By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Despite capturing the doubles point, Tennessee Tech wasn't able to put Saturday's Ohio Valley Conference tennis match against Belmont in the win column when the host Bruins claimed four of the six singles markers for a narrow, 4-3 victory.
Played at Brentwood Academy, the match was decided when the last players walked off the court up on the No. 1 singles battle. In a clash between two of the hottest players in the league, Belmont's Mauricio Antun won two tough tie-breakers over Oleksiy Arovin, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7) to clinch the win.
Tech claimed the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles bouts for a 1-0 lead in the match. At No. 2, Vasily Eremeev and Artem Tarasov downed Cedric Dujacquier and Henrik Claesson, 8-3. A spot lower in the No. 3 contest, it was Gagan Jain and Alvaro Cintas posting a 9-8 (7-5) win over Hans Nardelli and Martijn Verberne. Belmont got the No. 1 doubles match when Antun and Marko Lovrinovic upended Arovin and Alberto Esteban, 8-1.
Tech took a 2-0 lead when Tarasov earned a win by default at No. 6 singles.
Dujacquier took a 6-2, 6-2 match from Jain at No. 3 singles, before Eremeev took a straight set, 6-4. 6-3 win over Nardelli at No. 4, giving the Golden Eagles a 3-1 lead.
Tech had a couple of great chances to hand Belmont its first OVC loss of the season, dropping tiebreakers in two of the next three. In the No. 5 spot, Claesson downed Cintas, 6-4. 7-6 (8-6) before Lovrinovic swept 6-4, 6-2 sets from Esteban at No. 2, to knot the match at 3-3.
That pitted Antun and Arovin in the No. 1 contest to decide the outcome.
The GOlden Eagles will play Tennessee State Sunday at 1 p.m. in Nashville.
Belmont 4, Tennessee Tech 3
April 5, 2014 at Brentwood, Tenn.
| Singles competition |
| 1. Mauricio Antun (BELM) def. AROVIN, Oleksiy (TTU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7) |
| 2. Marko Lovrinovic (BELM) def. ESTEBAN, Alberto (TTU) 6-4, 6-2 |
| 3. Cedric Dujacquier (BELM) def. JAIN, Gagan (TTU) 6-2, 6-2 |
| 4. EREMEEV, Vasily (TTU) def. Hans Nardelli (BELM) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 5. Henrik Claesson (BELM) def. CINTAS, Alvaro (TTU) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) |
| 6. TARASOV, Artem (TTU) def. Martijn Verberne (BELM), by default |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Mauricio Antun/Marko Lovrinovic (BELM) def. AROVIN, Oleksiy/ESTEBAN, Alberto (TTU) 8-1 |
| 2. TARASOV, Artem/EREMEEV, Vasily (TTU) def. Cedric Dujacquier/Henrik Claesson (BELM) 8-3 |
| 3. JAIN, Gagan/CINTAS, Alvaro (TTU) def. Hans Nardelli/Martijn Verberne (BELM) 9-8 (7-5) |
| Match Notes |
| Tennessee Tech 3-12, 2-4 |
| Belmont 8-8, 6-0 |
