The Tiffin University Men's Tennis team dropped their opening round match to the Northwood Timberwolves at the GLIAC Tournament on Friday. The Dragons had beaten the Timberwolves just the previous week, but fell to them 3-5 ending early due to the match being finished.
Doubles
1st doubles was the lone doubles loss for the Dragons on the day as Cutting/Ludena couldn't get the spark they had the last time these teams duked it out. The last time these teams met the Dragons 1st doubles team had the lone doubles victory for the team as they flipped results on Thursday falling 6-8.
2nd doubles was a big victory and a momentum swing for the Dragons as the captains Mangone/Fernandes competed at their highest level taking down Haas/Reinaurer in dominating fashion 8-3. The Dragons have had their ups and downs all season, but have never looked as good as they did in a fantastic win for them on Friday.
3rd doubles was much of the same story as Lezama/Kopronica were able to avenge their loss the last time these teams met with a much needed 8-5 victory. The Dragons have faltered in big matches this season, but stepped it up on the big stage at the tournament.
Singles
1st singles was a different story with both players healthy, unlike last time. The Dragons' Ludena fell in straight sets in a back and forth chess match style that saw both players in a battle of wits and strength. Ludena couldn't seem to finish the sets strong falling 3-6, 4-6.
2nd singles was another match that went extremely different than the previous outing as Lezama managed to pull the match to a 3rd set. Ultimately in the final set Lezama fell losing 1-6, 6-3, 5-7.
3rd singles did not compete as the match was already decided.
4th singles was the lone singles win for the Dragons and a dominating performance by the 1st year player in Toby Cutting. Cutting came out strong moving well and placing shots deep in the court providing him with excellent opportunities to win points early. Cutting came away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
5th singles was a match the Dragons thought they were going to win in the previous match up with these teams until Kopronica retired due to severe cramping. This time around both players were healthy and the match came down to a lone break of serve being the decider. Kopronica was defeated in a 3-6, 5-7 straight set match.
6th singles was the complete opposite of what happened in their last outing as TU's senior captain Victor Fernandes couldn't take the home crowd out of the match. Fernandes was the deciding point in the match between these two earlier in the season that led to TU taking a 5-4 victory. Fernandes fell on Thursday in straight sets 2-6, 1-6.
