SUMTER, S.C. – Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis player Mohaned Alhouni (So., Tripoli, Libya) was defeated in the semifinals of the 2015 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships at the Palmetto Tennis Center on Friday morning. Alhouni suffered a 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Noah Farrell of Middlebury College and will now play in Saturday’s third place match against No. 1 seed Skyler Butts, which begins at 8:30 a.m. ET.
“Today’s match was totally different from yesterday’s,” said Alhouni after the match. “I tried to be the aggressive one, and that helped me extend the match longer, but Noah was more consistent than me today and was able to execute his game better than I did.”
After dropping the first set 4-6, Alhouni found himself in a 2-5 hole in the second. However, the Libyan native was able to make a strong comeback and take a 6-5 lead. Farrell won the next game to make it 6-6 and then won the set tiebreaker 7-5 to clinch the match.
“When I was down 2-5, I just tried to stay positive and keep looking for my chances,” said Alhouni. “I played more aggressively which allowed me to make a comeback, but unfortunately, I didn’t come out on top. However, I was definitely able to learn a lot from this match and hope to bring some of that to tomorrow’s match against Skyler.”
“Fantastic effort from Mo today,” added Coach Tommy Valentini. “I’m really pleased with the way he hung in there in the second set and was able to stick it out, keep his nerve, and stick with his game plan. I think this is just another step forward for him being able to compete against the top players in the country.”
For more information on the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, follow the link to the tournament website.