University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Radford
Radford Slips Past Men's Tennis, 4-3
03.25.2015 | Men's Tennis
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's tennis team lost a thrilling match to Radford, 4-3, on Wednesday afternoon at the Asheville Racquet Club.
Asheville falls to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Highlanders improve to 4-8 on the year and 1-1 in the Big South.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a strong start by sweeping doubles play. Thomas Panoulas and John Schubel got the best on Janken Thoen and Jose Manzano (8-2) on court two, improving their record to 6-2 as a team in doubles action this season. Josh Swindler and Daniel Kripak followed suit with an 8-3 victory at No. 3 to clinch the point.
Brett Landau and Alex Croker rounded out doubles play with an 8-5 victory over Javier Waase and Patrick O'Keefe at the top flight. Croker and Landau are now 8-4 on the year.
Panoulas gave the Blue & White a 2-0 match lead after dispatching Nikhil Mannepalli 6-2, 6-4 on court two to improve to 7-4 overall in singles matches.
It would be Radford, however, who seized control of the match by winning the next four points. Kripak was defeated at the top flight by O'Keefe (3-6, 4-6) and Swindler was knocked off by Michael Meekers (1-6, 6-2, 3-6) on court three.
The Bulldogs then dropped a pair of heartbreakers at No. 5 and No. 6 to seal the match. After trailing early in the first set, Landau battled back to force a first-set tie break, but a missed overhead shot gave Samuel Taylor a 7-6 (6) set-win and subsequently a 6-2 second set win at No. 6.
On court five, Schubel earned a 7-5 victory in the first set and after trailing 5-2 in the second, Schubel was on serve with match point but was unable to score, allowing Janken Thoen to grab a 7-6 (6) second set victory. Schubel was unable to rebound in the third where Thoen took the set 6-2 to win the match.
Alex Croker finished out the match on court four where he battled back after a 1-6 defeat in the first set to defeat Manzaon 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8). Croker trailed 4-3 late in the third set and grabbed the win on his fourth match point opportunity.
The Bulldogs will continue their busy week when they host Big South foe Liberty on Friday, March 27 at 2:00 p.m. at the Asheville Racquet Club.
