Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Southern Miss
Blue Raiders win two on Senior Day
4/6/2013 6:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Blue Raider men's tennis team won their fifth and sixth matches in a row, knocking off Southern Miss and Morehead State on Senior Day at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center.
The day began with a 4-3 victory over the Golden Eagles (14-9-1), and after a ceremony honoring Blue Raider senior, Dimitri Pippos, Middle Tennessee defeated MSU (6-11), 5-0.
Ben Davis and Victor Cornea teamed in No. 1 doubles to defeat USM's Matt Frost and Andrew Goodwin, 8-7 (1-0), but MT could not clinch the other matches, and dropped the doubles point.
From there, MT took a 3-1 lead in the match with three straight singles victories.
David Fox defeated Juan Escobar, 6-1, 6-4 in Flight 6 singles, followed by Cornea's 6-1, 6-4 win over Paulo Alvarado. Ettore Zito grabbed the third Blue Raider point with a 6-3, 6-2, two-set win over Vasco Valverde.
USM crept back into the match as Goodwin defeated Christoph Lang in Flight 2 singles, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, but MT's Yannick Born clinched the match for the Blue Raiders, topping Benjamin Feldmann, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in Flight 4 singles.
Davis fell to Frost, 2-6, 6-1, 3-6 in No. 1 singles.
The second match of the day featured a clean sweep for MT, starting with all three Blue Raider doubles teams winning.
Davis and Cornea won, 8-1, over MSU's Ji Hoon Heo and Nick Mercer, while Marlon Brand and Born followed suit, defeating Kevin Deligny and David Clifford, 8-3 in the second flight.
No. 3 doubles pitted Fox and Lang against Nathan Martin and Hugo Almonte, whom the Blue Raiders easily handled, 8-3.
Cornea won his second match of the day in Flight 2 singles, defeating Heo, 6-2, 6-0.
In No. 1 singles, Ettore Zito nearly swept the match, winning 6-0, 6-1, followed by Brand's 6-2, 6-2 victory over Delingy in Flight 6.
MT's fifth point came from Born, who topped Clifford, 6-2, 6-3.
Pippos' and Fox's match was left unfinished, though Pippos took the first set against Mercer, 6-4, and Fox was leading in the second set after a 6-2 first set.
MT returns to action next week, April 12-13 in Orlando, Fla., for matches against Central Florida and South Florida.
Players Mentioned
