College of Charleston
Middle Tennessee State
Cougars' Early Lead Falls Short in Marathon Match
3/11/2015 12:17:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's tennis team took an early lead, but the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee outlasted the Cougars to take a 4-3 victory in a match that lasted just over five hours on Tuesday night at the CofC Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
CofC (9-4, 1-0 CAA) won the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 spots. After Middle Tennessee (8-5) took the first doubles match with an 8-2 win on court one, junior Josh Record and sophomore Rodrigo Encinas tied things up at one match apiece with an 8-4 victory at No. 3. The win over Robin Riethmueller and Miguel Negre Fernandez boosted the duo's record to 5-1 on the year.
The doubles point came down to second-seeded senior Charlie Ghriskey and sophomore Vasily Kichigin. After trailing the Blue Raiders No. 2 duo 6-4, Ghriskey and Kichigin came back to win two games and tie the match at 6-6. The pair broke senior Yannick Born's serve to take the lead and held on for an 8-6 win and the doubles point.
Middle Tennessee tied up the match at 1-1 with Ettore Zito's 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles. Junior Zack Lewis picked up his eighth win of the season with a 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 5 to give Cougars a 2-1 edge in the match. Kichigin increased the lead with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 to stretch his singles record to 9-4 on the year.
The Blue Raiders tied the match at 3-3 with hard fought wins at the third and sixth seeds. After losing the first match in with a 7-2 tiebreak, junior Garrett Gordon took a 4-3 lead in the second set on court six. Middle Tennesee's Gian Issa rallied late in the second set to capture a 7-6(2), 7-6(1) triumph.
At the No. 3 spot, senior Charlie Ghriskey took down Born with a 7-3 tiebreak victory in the first set before falling 6-3, 6-2 in ensuing sets. The match came down to senior Brice Allanic and MT's Dima Zyhmantovich, who battled more than three hours on court two. Allanic won the first set 6-2, while Zyhmantovich needed a tiebreak to take the second set. Zhymantovich took the third set 6-2 just after 8 pm to win the match.
CofC returns to the court tomorrow at 3 pm to face the Richmond Spiders at Patriot Point Tennis Center.
Doubles:
1. Victor Hoang/Ettore Zito (MT) def. Brice Allanic/Franz Sydow (CofC) 8-2
2. Charlie Ghriskey/Vasily Kichigin (CofC) def. Gian Issa/Yannick Born (MT) 8-6
3. Josh Record/Rodrigo Encinas (CofC) def. Robin Riethmueller/Miguel Negre Fernandez (MT) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. Ettore Zito (MT) def. Rodrigo Encinas (CofC) 6-1, 6-3
2. Dima Zyhmantovich (MT) def. Brice Allanic (CofC) 2-6, 7-6(), 6-2
3. Yannick Born (MT) def. Charlie Ghriskey (CofC) 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2
4. Vasily Kichigin (CofC) def. Victor Hoang (MT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Zack Lewis (CofC) def. Robin Riethmueller (MT) 7-5, 6-1
6. Gian Issa (MT) def. Garrett Gordon (CofC) 7-6(2), 7-6(1)
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4, 6, 3, 2
Players Mentioned
