ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL. – Having advanced to the NCAA Championship Finals round for the seventh time in program history, the Queens College men's tennis team earned the No. 14 seed and were matched up against No. 3 seed Saint Leo University Lions Tuesday afternoon at Sanlando Park.
In a match that lasted over two hours, the Knights battled the scorching Florida heat, but it would be the Lions who would advance to the next round with a 4-0 victory.
10th-year head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights conclude the year with an overall record of 17-7.
Doubles
The Knights would battle in all three doubles courts but for every game they were to inch closer to earning the point, the Lions would add the final touch to stay one step ahead.
The Knights' #1 pair of seniors
Roni Rikkonen (Tampere, Finland) and
Omar El Shehawey (Cairo, Egypt) fell to nationally ranked #28 Luis Iriarte and Martin Soukal to the final score of 6-4.
Both doubles matches at #2 and #3 courts would conclude at the same time as Saint Leo earned the sweep.
The #2 doubles match between sophomore
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and senior
Cameron Henricy (Las Palmas, Spain) against Nicolas Bacella and Ghali Mensour saw the Lions earn a 6-3 victory and the #3 doubles pair of senior
Francisco Gonzalez (La Plata, Argentina) and freshman
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) fell 6-3 to Eduardo Cohen and Vincent Thiel.
Singles
The Knights would trail 2-0 as El Shehawey fell 1-6, 0-6 at #5 singles against Dylan Andrianaly.
Queens would put up a valiant effort but it would be the Lions who completed the match victory to advance to the next round as Foix Sotos fell at #4 singles to Mensour to the score of 2-6, 4-6, while Henricy fell 1-6, 4-6 at #2 singles to nationally ranked No. 8 Thiel.
The singles matches at #1, #3, and #6 went unfinished.
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