University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Sunday, February 12
Greeley, Colo.
5:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
5
vs
2
South Dakota State
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Bears Men's Tennis Wins Third Straight Match
2/12/2017 8:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
GREELEY, Colo.- The Northern Colorado men's tennis team won its third straight match on Sunday, defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits 5-2. They got off to a good start winning all three doubles matches. Then Kyle Pease put together one of his stronger performances, dispatching Marco Paulo Castro 6-2, 6-0. Following Pease, Alex Vakouftsis closed out his match at No. 3 and Hayden Cramer sealed the team win with a gutsy win that required a third set tiebreaker.
With the win, the Bears improved their spring record to 3-4 (2-1 Big Sky). They will be back in action on February 18th, continuing with match five of their eight-match homestand against non-conference opponent Creighton University at 9:00am.
Scores-
Doubles
1. UNC (Cramer, Vakouftsis) def. SDSU (Higham, Styles) 7-6(3)
2. UNC (King, Pease) def. SDSU (Castro, Tang) 6-2
3. UNC (Lombardi, Finerty) def. SDSU (Ward, Khouja) 6-3
Singles
1- SDSU (Emerson Styles) def. UNC (Connor Finerty) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
2- UNC (Kyle Pease) def. SDSU (Marco Paulo Castro) 6-2, 6-0
3- UNC (Alex Vakouftsis) def. SDSU (Gabriel Santos) 6-2, 6-0
4- UNC (Hayden Cramer) def. SDSU (Jonny Higham) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(1)
5- UNC (Agustin Lombardi) def. SDSU (Chuck Tang) 7-6(4), 6-2
6- SDSU (Elliot Ward) def. UNC (Cassell King) 2-6, 6-2, 10-5
Time of the match: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Doubles Breakdown:
1- Neither team made a lot of mistakes in the set, so it was inevitable that the winner of the match would be determined by which team won the important points. Alex Vakouftsis served well to put the Bears further in front and they were able to take the tiebreaker 7-2, finishing on a Cramer overhead smash.
2- Kyle Pease and Cassell King quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead in their No. 2 doubles match. The chemistry developed from playing together for a long period clearly paid off and they took the set 6-1 in only 20 minutes.
3- Connor Finerty and Agustin Lombardi were the more consistent team, dispatching SDSU's Elliot Ward and Abdelmateen Khouja 6-3, giving the Bears the team doubles point. Time of the match: 31 minutes.
Singles Breakdown:
1- SDSU sophomore Emerson Styles used an accurate kick-serve to control points throughout the match against Northern Colorado's Connor Finerty. A match that featured drop shots, superb lobs and a fast pace, Finerty finally earned a break point and capitalized for 4-2 and eventually 6-2 in the second set. Finerty continued to get further into Styles' service games in the third set and earned at break back to even things at 3-3, but Styles got the last point to make it 7-5. Time of the match: 1 hour, 49 minutes.
2- Kyle Pease was striking the ball with precision early in his match against SDSU junior Marco Paulo Castro. After closing the first set 6-3, Pease was able to draw enough errors from Castro to take the match 6-3, 6-0. Time of the match: 46 minutes.
3- Alex Vakouftsis played good consistent tennis to outlast SDSU freshman Gabriel Santos in the first set. It was more of the same in the second, Vakouftsis showing no mercy and winning the match 6-2, 6-0. Time of the match: 58 minutes.
4- After losing the first set in short fashion, Hayden Cramer played better with the lead in the second. Cramer found one break of serve to take the second set 6-3. In the third, a tiebreaker would be necessary to determine the winner and Cramer finished strong, winning the first five points and eventually the match. Time of the match: 1 hour, 35 minutes.
5- SDSU sophomore Chuck Tang did a nice job stepping into short balls throughout the match, but Agustin Lombardi showed dedication and gutted out the win 7-6(4), 6-2.
6- Cassell King had a strong performance at No. 6 singles, but could not come out with the win, dropping a third set tiebreaker 10-5 to SDSU sophomore Elliot Ward.
With the win, the Bears improved their spring record to 3-4 (2-1 Big Sky). They will be back in action on February 18th, continuing with match five of their eight-match homestand against non-conference opponent Creighton University at 9:00am.
Scores-
Doubles
1. UNC (Cramer, Vakouftsis) def. SDSU (Higham, Styles) 7-6(3)
2. UNC (King, Pease) def. SDSU (Castro, Tang) 6-2
3. UNC (Lombardi, Finerty) def. SDSU (Ward, Khouja) 6-3
Singles
1- SDSU (Emerson Styles) def. UNC (Connor Finerty) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
2- UNC (Kyle Pease) def. SDSU (Marco Paulo Castro) 6-2, 6-0
3- UNC (Alex Vakouftsis) def. SDSU (Gabriel Santos) 6-2, 6-0
4- UNC (Hayden Cramer) def. SDSU (Jonny Higham) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(1)
5- UNC (Agustin Lombardi) def. SDSU (Chuck Tang) 7-6(4), 6-2
6- SDSU (Elliot Ward) def. UNC (Cassell King) 2-6, 6-2, 10-5
Time of the match: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Doubles Breakdown:
1- Neither team made a lot of mistakes in the set, so it was inevitable that the winner of the match would be determined by which team won the important points. Alex Vakouftsis served well to put the Bears further in front and they were able to take the tiebreaker 7-2, finishing on a Cramer overhead smash.
2- Kyle Pease and Cassell King quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead in their No. 2 doubles match. The chemistry developed from playing together for a long period clearly paid off and they took the set 6-1 in only 20 minutes.
3- Connor Finerty and Agustin Lombardi were the more consistent team, dispatching SDSU's Elliot Ward and Abdelmateen Khouja 6-3, giving the Bears the team doubles point. Time of the match: 31 minutes.
Singles Breakdown:
1- SDSU sophomore Emerson Styles used an accurate kick-serve to control points throughout the match against Northern Colorado's Connor Finerty. A match that featured drop shots, superb lobs and a fast pace, Finerty finally earned a break point and capitalized for 4-2 and eventually 6-2 in the second set. Finerty continued to get further into Styles' service games in the third set and earned at break back to even things at 3-3, but Styles got the last point to make it 7-5. Time of the match: 1 hour, 49 minutes.
2- Kyle Pease was striking the ball with precision early in his match against SDSU junior Marco Paulo Castro. After closing the first set 6-3, Pease was able to draw enough errors from Castro to take the match 6-3, 6-0. Time of the match: 46 minutes.
3- Alex Vakouftsis played good consistent tennis to outlast SDSU freshman Gabriel Santos in the first set. It was more of the same in the second, Vakouftsis showing no mercy and winning the match 6-2, 6-0. Time of the match: 58 minutes.
4- After losing the first set in short fashion, Hayden Cramer played better with the lead in the second. Cramer found one break of serve to take the second set 6-3. In the third, a tiebreaker would be necessary to determine the winner and Cramer finished strong, winning the first five points and eventually the match. Time of the match: 1 hour, 35 minutes.
5- SDSU sophomore Chuck Tang did a nice job stepping into short balls throughout the match, but Agustin Lombardi showed dedication and gutted out the win 7-6(4), 6-2.
6- Cassell King had a strong performance at No. 6 singles, but could not come out with the win, dropping a third set tiebreaker 10-5 to SDSU sophomore Elliot Ward.
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