FLUSHING, N.Y. – Looking to take down their second division I opponent of the year, the Queens College men's tennis team
(1-1 overall) welcomed Long Island University Sharks to the QC Indoor Tennis Bubble Friday afternoon.
It would be a closely contested doubles point as the deciding point came down to the match at #2 doubles as the pair of junior
Alexis Martin-Gibiard (Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France) and freshman
Adam Laur (Boulogne Billancourt, France) put Queens up 1-0 before the Sharks rallied to earn four singles victory to defeat the Knights to the final score of 4-3.
DOUBLES PLAY
Queens opened the afternoon in style as the sophomore #3 doubles duo of
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) and
Loup Alleno (Paris, France) knocked off Lucas Hornung and Felix Abraham to the score of 6-2 to put the Knights up 1-0 in doubles play.
The Sharks would earn a victory at #1 doubles as the Knights pair of junior
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and rookie
Samuel Linck (Haarlem, Netherlands) fell short against Leon Harder and Philip Hilble to the score of 4-6.
Down to the #2 doubles match to decide the winner, the pair of Martin-Gibiard and Laur would go back and forth against Ales D'Anna and Danila Ishchanka before the Queens duo earned a thrilling 7-6
(7-4) tiebreaker victory as Queens took a 1-0 lead into singles play.
SINGLES PLAY
LIU would quickly take a 2-1 lead as Laur fell at #4 singles against Ishchanka to the score of 4-6, 1-6 and Linck promoted to #3 singles for the first time this season dropped a 2-6, 4-6 contest to D'Anna.
The Knights would fight back behind sophomore
Caleb Brightman (Pawling, N.Y.) at #6 singles who became the first American born player to don the Knights color since
Richard Sec during the 2018-19 season.
Brightman would make quick work of Abraham in the first set to the score of 6-2 before battling back to earn a 6-4 victory and tie the match at 2-2.
Martin-Gibiard would put Queens up 3-2 at #5 singles over Hornung earning a back-and-forth first set victory to the score of 7-5 before using a 6-3 victory in the second set to complete his undefeated day.
Leading 3-2, the match would come down to the final two matches at #1 and #2 singles.
Both matches would go into the third set as Andersson promoted to #1 singles would earn the first set to the score of 6-0 over Harder before Harder won the final two sets to the score of 6-2, 6-2 to the match at 3-3.
Down to Alleno's match at #2 singles for the second straight match, the French native would earn a 6-4 first set victory over Hilble before Hilble knocked off Alleno earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory and clinching the match for the Sharks to the final score of 4-3.
NEXT MATCH
Head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 19 as they welcome Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights to town. The first serve is set for 1:00 p.m.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), Instagram (qcknightsny), qcmtennis (@qcmtennis)
