Lakers Knock Off No. 19 Grace On Road
WINONA LAKES, Ind. – Alyssa Owens secured match point for the Roosevelt women's tennis team in a 4-3 win over No. 19 Grace 4-3 on Tuesday in Winona Lakes, Indiana.
The men faced off with the No. 4 Lancers later in the day and fell 5-0 despite several tight sets between on the court. The two other singles matches did not finish as the match was already decided by the time they were in the middle of the first set on their courts.
Owens teamed up with Teodora Petrica to start off the match in spectacular fashion for the Lakers in doubles. The duo toppled the 20th-ranked doubles partners from Grace 6-2 to help Roosevelt win the doubles point against the Lancers. Alejandra Chavez and Rebeca Geiger won at No. 3 doubles 6-4 to complete the point.
In singles play, the Lancers and Lakers traded off easy victories with Chavez winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6 singles to counter Grace Hahn's defeat at No. 2 by the same scoreline. Petrica dropped the opening set 6-3, then battled to force a tiebreaker with a 7-5 win in the second set before losing 10-2 in the super tiebreak at No. 1. Fabiola Rivas also went to a third-set tiebreaker in her No. 3 singles match, but ultimately fell.
Shortly before Petrica and Rivas lost, Geiger won 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to set up the showdown at No. 5. Owens took the first set 6-2 and all eyes were on her by the middle of the second set as she finished off the win with another 6-2 triumph.
The men's match had far more competitive matches, but the Lakers won just one set in the four singles matches completed. No. 4 Grace won 6-3 at No. 1 doubles and 6-4 at No. 2 doubles to overshadow Demille Scarabello and David Hofmann's 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles and claim the doubles point. The Lancers won at No. 1 and No. 4 singles to take a 3-0 lead, but they had far more trouble at No. 2 and No. 3.
Victor Dorojan dropped the first set of his match 6-1, but rebounded to force a tiebreak in the second set. He eventually fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker giving the Lancers their final point of the day. Shortly before Dorojan's match concluded, Yazid Benchegra lost in the third set tiebreak after splitting the first two sets with his opponent.
The Lakers will travel to Concordia (Ill.) on Thursday for another non-league match before beginning conference play at St. Francis on Saturday.
UPDATE: After a successful appeal of Roosevelt's singles lineup in the women's match, Grace has been awarded a 4-3 victory.
Men's Results
No. 4 Grace 5, Roosevelt 0
No. 1 Doubles – Justus Peters/Felipe Penuela lost 6-3
No. 2 Doubles – Victor Dorojan/Yazid Benchegra lost 6-4
No. 3 Doubles – David Hofmann/Demille Scarabello won 6-4
No. 1 Singles – Felipe Penuela lost 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Singles – Victor Dorojan lost 6-1, 7-6 (5)
No. 3 Singles – Yazid Benchegra lost 6-2, 3-6, 10-2
No. 4 Singles – Justus Peters lost 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 Singles – Juan Pablo Espinosa Did Not Finish
No. 6 Singles – Demille Scarabello led 3-0, Did Not Finish
Women's Results
Roosevelt 4, No. 19 Grace 3
No. 1 Doubles – Teodora Petrica/Alyssa Owens won 6-2
No. 2 Doubles – Ximena Mercado/Fabiola Rivas lost 6-2
No. 3 Doubles – Alejandra Chavez/Rebeca Geiger won 6-4
No. 1 Singles – Teodora Petrica lost 6-3, 5-7, 10-2
No. 2 Singles – Grace Hahn lost 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 Singles – Fabiola Rivas lost 2-6, 6-4, 10-8
No. 4 Singles – Rebeca Geiger won 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Singles – Alyssa Owens won 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 Singles – Alejandra Chavez won 6-1, 6-0