Men's Tennis | 3/25/2016 10:01:00 PM
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's tennis team came out on the short end of a 5-4 count against Edinboro on Saturday in a battle of Atlantic Region powers.
Coach Sam McCullough's Hilltoppers (8-3), ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region, faced an uphill climb in singles play after the No. 5-ranked Fighting Scots (13-2) won two of the three doubles matches. West Liberty's No. 1 doubles tandem of Andrew Ponder and Santiago Gutierrez, which came into Saturday's match ranked No. 1 in the region, was upset by Edinboro's top pairing of Vitor Albanese and Camilo Moncayo in a hotly-contested 8-6 thriller. The Hilltoppers' No. 2 doubles duo of Baptiste Perrin and Martin Moncayo breezed to an 8-3 win but Edinboro pulled out a 9-8 nod in a tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles to take a 2-1 advantage into the singles matches. Edinboro picked up a win at No. 4 singles and Albanese squeezed past Perrin, 6-4 6-4, in a battle of the top two singles players in the region, pulling the visitors within one win of taking the match.
Matt Tully came from behind for a three-set win at No. 5 singles and Gutierrez rallied for a three-set win at No. 2 singles to keep WLU's hopes alive but it wasn't enough. Kevin Mboko's straight-set win at No. 6 singles clinched it for the visitors before Ponder tacked on a Hilltopper win at No. 3 singles to close out the match.
The Hilltoppers return to Mountain East Conference action on Saturday when they host Shepherd in a noon match.
MEN'S TENNIS
Edinboro 5, West Liberty 4
Singles
Doubles
C.Moncayo/Albanes (EU) d. Ponder/Gutierrez, 8-6
Perrin/M.Moncayo (WLU) d. Fernandez/Mt.Santos, 8-3
Ma.Santos/Mboko (EU) d. Tully/Cimorra, 9-8
