Raiders suffer setback against ETSU, 4-3

Wednesday, April 12

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - Adams Tennis Complex

2 PM

Middle Tennessee

ETSU

4/12/2017 6:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis

MT falls in final match of regular season

By: @MTAthletics

MT vs. ETSU Box Score
Season Stats

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – In the final match before next weekend's Conference USA Championship at the Adams Tennis Complex, Middle Tennessee fell to East Tennessee State on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 4-3.

The doubles point went to the Buccaneers in a couple of hard-fought matches on courts one and two. Gian Issa and Miguel Negre Fernandez cruised to a 6-2 win at No. 3 to put MT in the position to clinch the doubles point, but the Bucs bounced back to win 6-4 at No. 2 and 7-5 at No. 1.

In singles action, Negre's momentum carried over to his match at No. 3, where he breezed through his match to a 6-2, 6-2 win.

"Miguel started picking up momentum last weekend when he won on the second day, and today he just kept it going," MT assistant coach Daniel Leitner said. "He's pretty comfortable with where he's at with his game, but he needs to make sure he has a good week of practice before we start the tournament."

After Negre tied the match at 1-1, Max Rauch put the Blue Raiders ahead for their only lead in the match by winning over his opponent at the bottom of the lineup, 7-5, 6-2.

"Max had a tough stretch in the middle of the season, so a lot of credit goes to him for how he's bounced back," Leitner added. "He's worked hard physically and on the court. He got a big win for us last weekend, and that really helped him mentally."

The Bucs again bounced back from an early deficit to take the matches at No. 5, 4 and 1 in straight sets to clinch the ETSU win. After the match was clinched, Tom Moonen saw his match go to a match-tiebreak at No. 2, where he was victorious by a score of 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-7).

The Blue Raiders take a record of 11-13 into the C-USA Championship, scheduled for April 21-23. As always, admission is free to the C-USA Championship, and live stats will be available for every match.

"Every running session that we do, every time we hit the gym, it's all for the postseason and the conference tournament," Leitner said. "To have the tournament at home is exciting. It's exciting to be able to have our fans out, and I hope our guys know that not everyone gets to host a conference tournament."

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter, @MT_MensTennis, and like them on Facebook, MTSU Men's Tennis, to stay tuned for updates and information regarding the C-USA Championship.