The Tiffin University Tennis team competed on Saturday against rival Findlay. The Dragons continued their winning ways in the GLIAC with a solid 6-3 victory.
Doubles
1st doubles was a tough match going in and Coach Conley and the team knew it. Oriol Ferrer/John Kidd have proved time and time again that they are a dominant doubles team and one of the best in the region. Luis Ludena/Toby Cutting struggled against a great team and fell 1-8.
2nd doubles was a tough match decided by a lone break of serve as the captains Mangone/Fernandes dropped a tough 6-8 decision to Carlos Blanco/Nicholas Kopylec of Findlay. The TU pairing have played incredible this season, having only dropped the match on a lone break that could have gone either team's way.
3rd doubles was the lone win for the Dragons as Kopronica/Lezama took care of business to defeat Trevor Majdalani/Reid Wynkoop of Findlay. TU played smart and understood their strengths, taking on a Findlay team that was experienced in big matches and attacked the net well. The Dragons used their aggression to take points early and often winning 8-4.
Singles
1st singles saw the defeat of a Dragon slayer when TU's number 1 singles player Luis Ludena took down a problematic player in John Kidd of Findlay. Kidd has had TU's number in the past, but on Saturday Ludena got the final point as he defeated Kidd in three tie breaks 7-6, 6-7, 10-2.
2nd singles was a close match that just didn't go TU's way. Lezama struggled to keep pace with Findlay's Ferrer as the Dragons fell 3-6, 3-6.
3rd singles and on was all TU as Mangone took on the task of taking down Carlos Blanco. Mangone had little room for error and played a fantastic match that showed the patience and dedication of a veteran on the team. Mangone took the match 6-3, 6-4.
4th singles saw Cutting make quick work of his opponent Nicholas Kopylec in a 6-0, 6-2 win that was all Dragons, all match.
5th singles was the same story, but different players as the freshman Kopronica took a big leap in play as he handily took care of Trevor Majdalani 6-2, 6-0. Majdalani is stellar at the net, but Kopronica didn't allow many free points and dispatched Findlay easily.
6th singles was a turning point as TU's captain Fernandes took a big comeback win to give the Dragons an insurance point with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Reid Wynkoop. Fernandes struggled out of the gate with unforced errors keeping him out of the match in the first set, but after the first set loss Fernandes calmed his nerves and turned on the jets. Fernandes exploded and won 12 of the final 14 games in a big 6th singles win.
The Dragons are now 12-9 overall and 4-1 in the GLIAC. The team will travel to Hillsdale on Sunday to take on the Chargers at a 1pm start.
