NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Before heading further south for games during spring break, Belmont Men's Tennis (5-8) had a full plate ahead of itself and buckled down for a pair of matches on Friday, playing two in a single day. The Bruins stumbled in the annual Battle of the Boulevard duel with Lipscomb (3-6), 6-1, but rebounded with a shutout of visiting Martin Methodist (1-8), 7-0, to close the full day of competition.
Even though the final score was 6-1 in the annual Battle of the Boulevard matchup, the Bruins played extremely tough across the board and kept each match extremely close.
The duo of Stephen Goldman and Vincent Sterkens were able to get a win against Jorge Ortegon and Francesco Tacconi, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot. However, partners Hendrik Inno and Marko Ilić were held off in a tie-breaking game at the No. 1 position, 7-6 (6), while Grant Kelly and David Faulkner also stumbled, falling 6-4.
The singles matches were full of extreme competitiveness, with each match, with the exception of one, being pushed to three sets.
After falling in the first set to a tie-breaking game, Inno, playing at No. 1, was able to come back with a shutout set. However, he was unable to pull out the win, as Alejandro Manzanares, won the third and final set, 6-4.
At the 2 position, Victor Chaw held off Ilić in the first frame, 6-3. However, Ilić was then able to bounce back and force a third set after a 6-2 win. Unfortunately, Chaw got the better of him, taking the final set, 6-1. At the 3 position, Sterkens was the only one who could not force a third set in singles play, falling in a tie-breaker to Jorge Ortegon, 7-6 (10), before being held off in the second set, 6-2.
At the 4 position, Goldman won his first set against Daniel Cardenas, 6-4, but was shut out in the second set before losing the third, 6-2. At No. 5, Jake Briggs lost his first set to Pedro Uribe, 6-2, but then was able to force a third set by winning the second set, 7-5. Unfortunately, he was tripped up in the tie-breaker, falling 7-6 (3). At the 6 position, Faulkner handed BU its lone point in the match against the Bisons. He pushed George Wong to a third set after falling 6-2 and winning the second set 6-4. Faulkner dug in and was able to close his match out with a win, 6-2.
