MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's tennis team earned a thrilling 5-4 victory over No. 43 Delta State in the opening round of the 2013 Gulf South Conference Men's Tennis Tournament, earning a spot in the semifinals of the event where the Chargers would fall 5-2 to the nation's third-ranked team West Florida.
UAH moves to 14-11 on the season, and the team will now await word of a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. The field for the national tournament will be announced on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
If the Chargers do make the NCAA field, Saturday's intense victory over the Statesmen will have played a large role.
“"I cannot describe in words how proud I am of these guys,” first-year Head Coach Daniel Finn said after the match. “They fought from the beginning to the end to win this one.”
In a reversal of the team's recent regular season match with DSU that saw the Statesmen take a lead out of doubles, the Blue and White would hold the advantage headed into singles play on this day.
Christopher Kano and
Raphael Oliveira teamed up for the first point of the contest as the No. 3 pairing won 8-3, and the team would hold a 2-0 advantage when the No. 1 duo of
Jose Soto and
Nestor Perez captured a point with an 8-2 decision. Delta State would then take the No. 2 doubles point to produce a 2-1 UAH lead.
Delta State immediately, however, knotted the match up at 2-2 with a win at the fifth position in singles, but Perez quickly pushed the Chargers back in front with a 6-4, 6-2 win at the fourth position. Shortly thereafter, UAH was placed on the precipice of victory when Soto captured the No. 1 singles point with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) triumph.
The Statesmen would not surrender easily, winning at the third and sixth positions to pull back into a tie at 4-4 – putting the contest squarely on the shoulders of the No. 2 singles match.
Having dropped the first set 5-7, Fredrick Graaner showed tremendous resiliency and fought off four match points in the second set before ultimately winning in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4). The momentum Graaner generated in the middle frame victory carried over into the third, and he broke serve to go up 3-0 en route to a 6-3 triumph.
“The way Freddy came through for everyone when it came down to his match was absolutely epic,” said Finn.
In the semifinal contest, the Chargers would capture a point in doubles as Kano and Oliveira teamed up for an 8-5 win at the third position, and Perez would provide UAH with another point as he was a 6-3, 6-1 victor at the fourth position in singles. Unfortunately, a strong effort from the Chargers would come up short against one of the nation's top-ranked teams.
