FLUSHING, N.Y. – With a trip to the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament in Altamonte Springs, FL on the line the nationally-ranked #33 Queens College Men's Tennis team hosted the Adelphi University Panthers inside the QC Indoor Tennis Bubble in the NCAA East Regional Second Round match Saturday evening.
In a match that lasted over three hours, the Knights won the doubles points before winning three singles victories with junior
Viktor Ek Johansson (Stockholm, Sweden) sealing the victory at the #3 court as Queens defeated the Panthers to the final score of 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights improved to 18-4 overall on the year and clinched their second straight trip to the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament in Altamonte Springs, FL.
DOUBLES PLAY
The Knights took an early lead as the #1 pair of junior
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and rookie
Samuel Linck (Haarlem, Netherlands) defeated Reece Farrow and Hugo Munoz Reinoso to the score of 6-2.
But the Panthers would tie the doubles action 1-1 as Queens #2 pair of rookie
Adam Laur (Boulogne Billancourt, France) and junior
Alexis Martin-Gibiard (Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France) fell short to the score of 3-6 against Marko Jovanovic and Spyridon Papageorgiou.
With the doubles action tied at 1-1, the Knights #3 pair of sophomore
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) and junior
Viktor Ek Johansson (Stockholm, Sweden) defeated Louca Bertone and Andrea Albiero to the score of 6-4 to give the Knights a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
SINGLES PLAY
Leading 1-0, rookie Laur put the Knights up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Rodrigo Ochoa at the #6 court.
The Panthers would cut into the advantage as Foix Sotos fell at #1 singles against Jovanovic to the score of 3-6, 3-6.
Linck at #3 court gave the Knights a commanding lead of 3-1 as the rookie earned a 6-1, and second set victory of 7-6
(9-7) against Papageorgiou.
Down to the final three matches and needing just one more singles victory, Queens would be led by junior Ek Johansson who earned a thrilling 6-2, 7-6
(8-6) victory over Reinsoso to send the Knights to their second straight trip to Florida.
The matches at #2 court and #4 court went unfinished with Queens leading in the final sets.
NEXT MATCH
Queens now await their next opponent which will take place in Altamonte Springs, FL at Sanlando Park from Tuesday, May 20 – Saturday, May 24. More details to follow soon
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