By Dave Hunter (dhunter)
VU battles through almost 8 1/2 hours on continuous tennis.....
Altamonte Springs, Fla., Mar. 2 – The Vincennes University tennis team basked in the bright Florida sun for the second straight day, defeating two NCAA Division II opponents, Grand Valley State, Mich., 5-4, and Wingate, N.C., 6-3.
The Trailblazers (4-2) had only a 20-minute break before going on the court for the Wingate match.
“It was warm, 80-plus,” said Vincennes coach Ron Albers. “We left everything on the court. I had guys with fatigue and cramps, it was tough to play back to back.”
The match against Grand Valley State had four three-set matches and five tie-break sets.
Sophomore David Jackson is unbeaten in six matches this season and displayed his maturity in dual wins at No. 1 singles on Monday.
He beat Grand Valley’s Renato Tamashiro, 6-0, 7-6(4) and Mitchell Lvovsky of Wingate, 6-1, 6-4.
“David played a tremendous first set against Tomashiro,” Albers said. “David and Jaime (Esteban) will split time No. 1, but David stepped up big today. I’m exceptionally proud of the way he’s become a leader this year and his on court match play.”
Esteban won in straight sets over Patrick Troy, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 2 singles.
Freshman Chris King defeated Patryk Polus, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1 at fourth singles to give VU a clinching 5-1 lead.
“Chris wasn’t really aware he could clinch the match,” Albers said. “The big thing was that we came out with the intensity won two of the three doubles to start the match and carried it over into singles against a very good team.”
“The match could have gone either way,” Albers said. We gutted it out, battled our tails off to get the win.”
VU also won two of three doubles pro-set matches to begin the Wingate match.
Freshman Jimmy Dunseith clinched the team win with a three-set, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 decision over Louis Villarroel at No. 4 singles.
“It was one of the most of the gratifying wins I’ve had in a long time,” Albers said. “Wingate might be a little better through the lineup than Grand Valley. We came back basically with no rest.”
Albers sat sophomore Binky Nikou out of singles in the second match, but praised him for his leadership from the sidelines. Nikou, the national runner-up at third singles last season, is 1-5 so far this season.
“Binky didn’t get to play all summer and fall after elbow surgery,” Albers said. “It will take a while for him to get back into match form. The No. 3 spot is tough because there’s a lot of quality players there. He hadn’t played a match since nationals last year.”
The Trailblazers continue their Florida trip on Tuesday match when they play NCAA Division I LaSalle University.
Vincennes 5, Grand Valley State 4
Singles
No. 1 – David Jackson (V) def. Renato Tomashiro, 6-0, 7-6(4)
No. 2 – Jaime Esteban (V) def. Patrick Troy, 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 – Philipp Claus (GVS) def. Binky Nikou, 2-6, 6-4, 4-3(5)
No. 4 – Chris King (V) def. Patryk Polus, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1
No. 5 – Matt Globerson (GVS) def. Jimmy Dunseith, 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 1-0(6)
No. 6 – Ryan Diebold (GVS) def. McKenzie Bean, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6
Doubles
No. 1 – Jackson-King (V) def. Polus-Brock Plangger, 8-2
No. 2 – Nikou-Tony Kanavos (V) def. Tomashiro-Troy, 8-4
No. 3 – Globerson-Alex Switzer (GVS) def. Esteban-Dunseith, 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Vincennes 6, Wingate 3
Singles
No. 1 – Jackson (V) def. Mitchell Lvovsky, 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 – Jaime Esteban (V) def. Jose Valarezo, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(0)
No. 3 – Braeden Patchell (W) def. King, 6-4, 7-6(5)
No. 4 – Dunseith (V) def. Louis Villarroel, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 – Arik Bartlett (W) def. Andrew Bartelmo, 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 – Kanavos (V) def. Felipe Fidalgo, 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Jackson-King (V) def. Lvovsky-Brendan Molan, 8-6
No. 2 – Valarezo-Patchell (W) def. Nikou-Kanavos, 8-6
No. 3 – Esteban-Hodge (V) def. Bartlett-Villarroel, 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
