GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Belmont Men's Tennis team (4-6) fell short in its rally to topple Furman (7-1), falling, 5-2, Saturday on the road.
After falling in their doubles duel, sophomore Hendrik Inno (Tallinn, Estonia) and freshman Marko Ilić (Zagreb, Croatia) were able to grab singles victories. However, it would prove to not be enough, as the Bruins fell short in the rest of their singles matches.
Though the Belmont Bruins were not able to gain the doubles point, Ilić and Inno were victorious over Furman's Cameron Green and Clarke Wilson. This marked a big win for the Bruins duo, bouncing back after a match against Illinois State last week.
The premier singles match to watch was taking place on Court 1, with the match definitely delivering plenty of excitement with reigning OVC Player of the Week Inno facing off against the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week, Green. Inno won the first set 6-3, however, in the second set, his opponent won by the same score. In the end, it was Inno that came out on top in this battle of resiliency, winning the final set, 6-3.
Ilić was able to win his singles match as well at No. 2 in straight sets. The first set against Furman's Ivan Mitric was pretty easy for Ilić, as he won the set 6-2, but the second was forced into a tie-breaking game. The rookie Bruin rose to the challenge and was able to win the second set 7-6 (7-5), winning the match and gaining the second point for Belmont.
Unfortunately, the rest of the match was not as successful for the Bruins, as they lost in four straight singles matches. Junior Vincent Sterkens (Antwerp, Belgium), at No. 3, was able to force his match to three sets against his opponent, Drew Singerman, but was unable to finish the job, falling in the third set, 7-5. Senior Stephen Goldman (Lutz, Fla.), and freshmen Jake Briggs, and David Faulkner also fell in their matches in two sets.
Belmont will return to action on Sunday, traveling to Spartanburg, SC to face the Wofford at 11:00 a.m.
