Tech men come from behind to win; Tech women fall to Salukis
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - For the second time this season, a member of
the Tennessee Tech men's tennis team was down 2-5 in the third set.
Freshman Oscar Pachon won five straight games to claim the 7-5 win
in the final set to give the Golden Eagles the 4-3 win over the
visiting Salukis.
The Golden Eagle women did not fair as well as they fell 6-1 to
Southern Illinois.
"I can not say enough about Oscar," said coach Dan Silverstein. "He
got down, but came back just when his teammates needed him the most
and got the win."
The Tech men got things started off right when the won the doubles
point for the second straight match.
Reigning three-time OVC Player of the Week, sophomore Dean O'Brien
and fellow sophomore Josh Girling kept things close at the top spot
early on. They built it up to a 6-3 lead over Sebastian Rubiano and
Hugo Vidal. But a run by the Saluki duo would tie things up at six
games a piece. Tech took the 7-6 lead before SIU once again tied
things up. However, O'Brien and Girling would not let their
teammates down as they won the next two games to pick up their win
at the top spot 9-7.
Tech took the doubles point with the win at number one after the
two team split the two and three slots. Tech got their win at
number three when the freshmen team of Pachon and Justin Kirstein
defeated Anton Leonenko and Pavlo Buryi, 8-4.
Tech jumped out to an early overall 2-0 lead after Lucas Walked
retired after O'Brien got up 4-0 in the first set. With the win,
O'Brien is now 13-1 on the spring with his only loss coming to then
No. 12 Guillermo Gomez of Georgia Tech.
But the Salukis would not give up picking up picking up three of
the next four singles wins to tie things up at 3-3 to have the
match come down to Pachon at number six.
Pachon looked like he might run away with the match after winning
the first set 6-2. But after bathroom break in between the first
and second sets, the momentum switched to Leonenko who claimed the
second set, 6-2.
Leonenko took the momentum into the deciding set going up 5-2 and
looked to close out the match for the Salukis. But Pachon would not
be denied and fought off match points to climb back into the match
and tied things up at 5-5.
With the momentum back on his side, Pachon took the next two games
and complete the come from behind win, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 and give Tech
the 4-3 win.
The Tech women however, did not fair as well as they fell to the
visiting Salukis.
Sophomore Kelly Holtzhausen continues her push as the two-time
defending OVC Player of the Week with another straight sets win at
the top spot. She has yet to be pushed to three sets this spring
has only been forced to play two tie-breakers this semester.
Both teams will only have a one day lay-off before hitting the road
for a Friday match at Murray State with match times slated for 2:30
p.m.
Men:
Singles
1. O'BRIEN, Dean (TTUM) def. Lucas Waked (SIU) 4-0, retired
2. Felipe Villasenor (SIU) def. GIRLING, Josh (TTUM) 6-2, 7-5
3. Eric West (SIU) def. CHEN, Alex (TTUM) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
4. KIRSTEIN, Justin (TTUM) def. Hugo Vidal (SIU) 7-5, 6-4
5. Sebastian Rubiano (SIU) def. GUTIERREZ, Mario (TTUM) 6-2,
6-4
6. PACHON, Oscar (TTUM) def. Anton Leonenko (SIU) 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
Doubles
1. O'BRIEN, Dean/GIRLING, Josh (TTUM) def. Sebastian Rubiano/Hugo
Vidal (SIU) 9-7
2. Felipe Villasenor/Eric West (SIU) def. CHEN, Alex/GUTIERREZ,
Mario (TTUM) 8-4
3. PACHON, Oscar/KIRSTEIN, Justin (TTUM) def. Anton Leonenko/Pavlo
Buryi (SIU) 8-4
Women:
Singles
1. HOLTZHAUSEN, Kelly (TTUW) def. Sheoran, Vishakha (SIU) 6-2,
6-3
2. Blacketer, Ame (SIU) def. KRUTKINA, Alena (TTUW) 6-1, 6-4,
3-6
3. Cruise, Michela (SIU) def. BARNHILL, Katie (TTUW) 6-0, 6-1
4. Flannery, Jessica (SIU) def. DENEZHKINA, Tatiana (TTUW) 7-5,
6-3
5. Vianna Ce, Martina (SIU) def. PORRAS, Laura (TTUW) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0
(10-4)
6. Whitney, Emily (SIU) def. YARTSEVA, Evgenia (TTUW) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. BARNHILL, Katie/HOLTZHAUSEN, Kelly (TTUW) def. Cruise,
Michela/Flannery, Jessica (SIU) 8-4
2. #68 Sheoran, Vishakha/Vianna Ce, Martina (SIU) def. YARTSEVA,
Evgenia/KRUTKINA, Alena (TTUW) 8-1
3. Blacketer, Ame/Whitney, Emily (SIU) def. DENEZHKINA,
Tatiana/PORRAS, Laura (TTUW) 8-3
