SPARKILL, N.Y. – Hitting the road for an East Coast Conference showdown, the Queens College men's tennis team squared off against St. Thomas Aquinas College Tuesday afternoon.
The Knights fell behind early, 3-0, before mounting a strong comeback by winning three straight singles matches to even the score. However, the rally came up just short, as Queens dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision.
With the loss, Queens sees its program-best 14-match winning streak come to an end, moving to 14-1 overall and 3-1 in ECC play.
DOUBLES PLAY
Queens struck first at the top spot, as the senior tandem of
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and
Alexis Martin-Gibiard (Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France) earned a convincing 6-1 victory over Theo Renoux and Henry Ronnberg.
The Spartans responded at No. 3 doubles, where juniors
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) and
David Cerne (Ljubljana, Slovenia) were edged 7-5 by Ondrej Sramek and Victor Tauson to even the doubles point.
The deciding match came at No. 2 doubles, where sophomore
Samuel Linck (Haarlem, Netherlands) and junior
Said Akbarov (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) battled in a tightly contested match but fell 7-6
(7-5) in a tiebreaker to Don Vinz Lominoque and Nagamitsu Kuroda.
SINGLES PLAY
St. Thomas Aquinas extended its lead to 3-0 with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
Queens began its comeback at No. 4, where Martin-Gibiard delivered a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ronnberg.
Foix Sotos followed with a gritty three-set comeback at the top flight, rallying past Lorenzo Meschini 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to pull the Knights within one.
The Knights evened the match at 3-3 as sophomore
Ismoil Khayriddinov (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Tauson at No. 6 singles.
With the match on the line, Linck and Sramek battled in a thrilling deciding contest. Despite a strong effort, Linck came up just short, falling in straight sets, 7-6
(9-7), to seal the 4-3 win for the Spartans.
NEXT UP
Queens remains on the road as they face Division I opponent Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday, April 9. First serve is scheduled for 2:00 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)
