LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - All good things must come to an end. That phrase took hold today as Belmont's inpressive eight-match winning was halted by the #24 Louisville Cardinals.
The streak began after a loss to power-five force Vanderbilt and it ends with a loss to power-five force Louisville. For what it is worth, the Bruins managed to get a few punches in against the top-flight Cardinals.
After falling in doubles, the Cardinals made quick work to take the match. After the Redbirds jumped out to a 4-0 lead, the Bruins' winningest trio gave their foes one heck of a run to earn the shutout. Sophomores Ian Cruz, Alfred Wallin, and senior Taisei Miyamoto may have fallen today, but it wasn't easy.
After Cruz and Wallin fell behind one set, they brilliantly battled the fast attacks that their opponents possessed. Cruz covered ground like a tarp in a rain delay and managed to force the third set after winning set two: 6-4. Elsewhere, Wallin was moved up for the second straight match and played the fourth position for the first time. After today, I'd be comfortable playing him anywhere.
Wallin stood tall and sprinted like a healthy gazelle outrunning a lion to take set two against 15-match winner Sergio Hernandez: 6-1. But one Bruin deserved additional focus from his foe.
Miyamoto shook up the joint after clinching set one 6-4. His opponent, David Mizrahi, made some adjustments and took the challenge all the way to the third set tiebreaker. While it was close, in the end Mizrahi survived Miyamoto's set one stunner to win: 10-8.
The loss drops Belmont to 11-4 with two matches left. Next up, they will travel to Eastern Illinois this Saturday for their 10 a.m. match to close their true road tilt.
DOUBLES
E. Donnet/T. Chen vs. D. Castro/T. Luis (BU) - 5-3, unfinished
S. Hernandez/N. Rodrigues def. J. Randall/A. Toledo - 6-0
K. Tang/A. Wesbrooks def. T. Miyamoto/A. Wallin - 6-3
SINGLES
Etienne Donnet def. Arthur Toledo (BU) - 6-0, 6-2
Josh Howard-Tripp def. Tomas Luis (BU) - 6-3, 6-3
Tin Chen def. Ian Cruz (BU) - 6-2, 4-6, 10-6
Sergio Hernandez def. Alfred Wallin (BU) - 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
Natan Rodrigues def. Diego Castro (BU) - 6-1, 6-1
David Mizrahi def. Taisei Miyamoto (BU) - 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
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