ORLANDO, Fla. -- Bates College men's tennis kicked off its four-match trip to the Sunshine State Wednesday as the Bobcats experienced a 5-2 setback vs. Division II Rollins College in a contest played at the USTA National Campus.
The host-Tars, ranked No. 7 in the preseason DII national poll, improve to 4-2 on the spring while the garnet and white opens the schedule at 0-1.
Despite the final outcome, sophomore
Alex Park and first-year
Tylan Ozkuzey, playing at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively, each walked away with straight-set victories for the Bobcats.
Park needed 65 minutes to dismiss Rollins' Pietro Cappellaro (Vicenza, Italy) by scores of 7-5 and 6-3. Ozkuzey, taking on Phillip McMurray (Gr.-Bradenton, Fla.), coasted to a win of 6-4, 7-5 for his first collegiate dual-match triumph.
In doubles play, Rollins' Richard Stoiberer (Jr.-Salzburg, Austria) and Pete Tran (Fy.-Orlando, Fla.) opened the day by defeating Bates'
Phillippe Kosyagin and
Theo Sardain, 6-3, at the No. 1 position. Mo Anterist (Fy.-Saarbrucken, Germany) and Nico de Giacomo (So.-Vienna, Austria) followed by doubling up
Ben Adey and
Evangelo Kapothanasis at No. 2, 6-3.
Cappellaro and Fabian Gusic (Jr.- Celle, Germany) edged
Nicolas Ozer and
James Sacco at No. 3 doubles, 6-4, to earn the Tars a 1-0 lead heading into singles action.
Rollins went on to win four singles showdowns to clinch the victory.
Remaining singles results include:
(#1) Fabian Gusic (Rollins) def.
Phillippe Kosyagin (Bates): 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
(#2) Pete Tran (Rollins) def.
Theo Sardain (Bates) 6-3, 6-0
(#3) Mo Anterist (Rollins) def.
Eric Diop (Bates) 7-5, 6-1
(#4) Richard Stoiberer (Rollins) def.
Ben Adey (Bates) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
Bates returns to action Thursday with a pair of competitions vs. DII foes. The Bobcats open day with a 9:30 a.m. meeting with No.3 (DII national poll) Saint Leo University (3-2), followed by a 3:00 p.m. tilt vs. No.13 Florida Southern College (1-2). Both matches will be played at the USTA National Campus.
