Men’s Tennis Wraps Up Spring Trip With 5-4 Win Over UT Tyler Posted on March 31st, 2017 by

WACO, Texas – The No. 31-ranked Gustavus men’s tennis team closed out its spring trip Friday with a 5-4 win over the No. 17-ranked University of Texas at Tyler, improving its overall record to 19-7 on the season.

“The guys were remarkable today,” said Head Coach Tommy Valentini. “Every member of our team trusted our approach, our game plans, and each other. We competed with great energy in the doubles and stayed the course against a very talented team in extremely challenging conditions. Entwistle and Johnson were great again at #2 doubles, and Hagberg and Derbani were poised and courageous to pull out the tiebreak at #3. We were fortunate to gain the 2-1 advantage. In the singles we were able to focus on what was within our control at a high level, and we embraced the challenge beautifully. No matter how tough it looked, the guys competed for each other. Alhouni scored a great comeback win against an elite opponent to get us level at 4, and In the end we were fortunate to have Ekstein playing the last match on. Zach was brilliant in his ability to handle the moment and stay in the present despite trailing 0-3 and 2-4 in the third. His poise, trust and channeling of his teammates’ energy made for a special finish.”

Gustavus 5, UT Tyler 4 (Box)

Singles

  1. Mohanad Alhouni (Jr., Tripoli, Libya) (GAC) def. Arthur Fagundes (UTT) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
  2. Zach Ekstein (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) (GAC) def. Vinicio Hadlich (UTT) 7-6, 1-6, 6-4
  3. Daniel Rodriguez (UTT) def. Patrick Whaling (So., Mankiob Sabot, Va.) 6-2, 6-3
  4. Pablo Gomez (UTT) def. Tommy Entwistle (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) (GAC) 7-6, 6-3
  5. Joey Fischer (UTT) def. Chase Johnson (So., Golden Valley, Minn.) (GAC) 6-1, 6-2
  6. Yassine Derbani (Fy., Casablanca, Morocco) (GAC) def. Jose McIntyre (UTT) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles

  1. Arthur Fagundes/Jose McIntyre (UTT) def. Alhouni/Whaling (GAC) 8-6
  2. Entwistle/Johnson (GAC) def. Pablo Gomez/Joey Fischer (UTT) 8-6
  3. David Hagberg (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.)/Derbani (GAC) def. Ford Cunningham/Ryan Elwood (UTTM) 9-8

Gustavus returns to action April 8-9 as they travel to West Bend, Wis. to take on DePauw University and the University of Chicago.

“We feel grateful that the result lined up with how well we competed as a team today against a very strong UT-Tyler team,” commented Valentini. “Today was a great end to our trip and we’ll look to build on our progress as we prepare for next week’s challenges.”

 

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