LAKELAND, FL – Continuing their Sunshine State trip, the nationally ranked #34 Queens College men's tennis team
(13-4 overall) matched up against #29 Florida Southern College Moccasins
(15-8 overall) in Lakeland at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center Thursday afternoon.
The Knights would earn the doubles points to take an early lead before the Mocs earned four singles victories for a 4-3 victory in non-conference play.
Beginning in doubles action, the #3 doubles duo of graduate student
Moritz Borges (Hunxe, Germany) and junior
Omar El Shehawey (Cairo, Egypt) earned their second doubles victory of the tour with a 6-4 victory over Inaki Braun Simo and Danny Thomas for an early 1-0 lead.
But the home side would tie doubles play as the #2 doubles duo of graduate student
Lluis Miralles Miro (Barcelona, Spain) and senior
Lucas Demuth (Buenos Aires, Argentina) fell 6-4 to Mario Garoz and Ryan Rajakar.
However, Queens take a 1-0 lead into singles play as the #1 doubles duo junior
Roni Rikkonen (Tampere, Finland) and senior
Kareem Rashad (Alexandria, Egypt) defeated nationally ranked #7 pair of Matteo Feggi and Chris Fok Kow to the score of 6-3.
In singles play, Rikkonen would fall 6-0, 6-3 at #2 singles to Simo as the Mocs tied the match 1-1.
Matching up against nationally ranked #75 singles play in Garoz, Rashad would fall 6-2, 6-4 at #3 singles as the home side took a 2-1 lead.
The deficit would balloon to 3-1 as Borges fell at #5 singles to John Gidefjord to the score of 6-2, 6-4.
But the Knights would fight back as Demuth earned a hard-fought victory at #4 singles over Alex Fascio to the score of 7-6
(9-7), 6-2 as Queens cut the deficit down to 3-2.
But the Mocs would clinch the match at #6 singles as Miro fell to Elliot Altman to the score of 6-3, 6-4.
Queens would earn the final point of the afternoon as sophomore
Cameron Henricy (Las Palmas, Spain) earned a victory at #1 single over Kow to the score of 7-5, 6-4 as the Knights fell 4-3 Thursday afternoon.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights conclude the Florida trip on Friday (Apr. 14) afternoon as they travel to Winter Park with a matchup against their third straight ranked opponent in the #12 Tars of Rollins College. First serve set for 3:00 p.m.
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