Men's Tennis Plays Comeback Kids against VCU

Friday, March 22

Richmond, VA / Thalhimer Tennis Center

2 PM

Middle Tennessee

VCU

3/22/2019 5:06:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. — In back-to-back matches, the Blue Raiders pull out the come-from-behind win as junior Tom Moonen played hero clinching the 4-3 win over VCU on Friday afternoon.

Tom Moonen had all eyes on him as he was in the third set with the match in his hands. He took the challenge head strong and pulled out the clutch three set win for the Blue Raiders when they needed him most. For the second time this season, MT delivers the team win after not taking doubles point.

The start of the match did not go the way the Raiders had expected. VCU came out hot in doubles play as they took the first match-up against No. 52 duo Chris Edge and Tom Moonen, 6-0. Gonzalo Morell and Pavel Motl responded with a dominate win of their own on court three. With that win Gonzalo Morell enters the top 10 career all-time doubles win as he is tied with three others at No. 10 with 71, but he is not done yet etching his name in the record book. The Rams finished strong on court two and took doubles.

VCU quickly built a 2-0 lead after Stijn Slump fell in straight sets, but Middle Tennessee rebounded in huge ways. Chris Edge gave the Blue Raiders their first point as he edged his match-up in easy straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Following that up, Gonzalo Morell earned his 73^rd all-time singles win which put him tied for No. 10 in MTSU tennis history.

With the score tied at 2-2, the Rams grinded out their third point looking to improve to 11-6 on the season. But Pavel Motl had other ideas as he took his opponent to work in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 setting up the winner-take-all battle into Tom Moonen's hands, which he takes and rides it to the win for the Men in Blue.

Coach Jimmy Borendame added after the match, "I am extremely proud of the guys. This was a great win with tough conditions after playing a poor doubles point. This team showed a lot of character today by rebounding the way they did and Tom (Moonen) came through big at the end."

Singles competition
1. Gonzalo Morell (MT) def. Noren (VCU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Stable (VCU) def. Stijn Slump (MT) 6-1, 6-1
3. Tom Moonen (MT) def. Mobius (VCU) 7-6, 1-6, 6-1
4. Torree Martin (VCU) def. Max Rauch (MT) 7-6, 6-4
5. Chris Edge (MT) def. Zgraggen (VCU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Pavel Motl (MT) def. Amantegui (VCU) 7-6, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Noren/Torre Martin (VCU) def. #63 Chris Edge/Tom Moonen (MT) 6-0
2. Amantegui/Stable (VCU) vs. Max Rauch/Francisco Rocha (MT), 6-4
3. Gonzalo Morell/Pavel Motl (MT) def. Mobius/Rivero Crespo (VCU) 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,5,1,4,6,3)

Next Up
The Blue Raiders will head to Williamsburg, Viriginia, Sunday to take on W&M. The match is scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. start.