MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Fraysure
561-430-7148, jonathan.fraysure@fau.edu
BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Feb. 17, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University men’s tennis team quickly completed Saturday’s suspended match on Sunday morning, defeating Tennessee Tech, then posted another victory in the afternoon over Stetson to go undefeated on the weekend in the team’s first three matches of the year.
Notables:
· FAU (8-5) had taken a 3-1 lead against Tennessee Tech when the sun set on Saturday, winning doubles first
· Mehdi Laalej and Alvaro Fernandez Horta combined to win the No. 3 battle, 6-2, and Kirac Bekisoglu and Thomas Guy were victorious at No. 2, 6-4
· Jason Legall notched the first singles win, at the top flight, 6-2, 6-3
· TTU made it 2-1 with a win at No. 4, but FAU, and Bekisoglu, pushed back ahead with a three-set win in the No. 2 match (6-2, 5-7, 6-3)
· Then, on Sunday morning, it didn’t take long to get the victory, with Laalej taking the No. 3 matchup, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
· Later, against Stetson on Sunday afternoon, the Owls took the clean sweep
· Legall and Ignacio Garcia came in first, in doubles, winning 6-2
· Laalej and Gabriel Sidney were next, 6-3
· Legall recorded another No. 1 singles victory, 6-4, 6-1, followed by Garcia with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5
· The clinching point came at No. 2, as Bekisoglu put away his opponent by a score of 6-2, 6-0
Quotable:
Head Coach Ricardo Gonzalez
“I am very proud of the way our team competed this weekend. We had many challenges along the road but we were able to hold our composure in the big moments. Big team effort to come out with three solid wins this weekend.”
Full Results:
FAU 4, Tennessee Tech 1
Doubles
1. Jason Legall/Ignacio Garcia (FAU) def. KUBOTA, Riku/ALBIN, Wenceslao (TTU) 6-5, unfinished
2. Kirac Bekisoglu/Thomas Guy (FAU) def. GARCIA, Gonzalo/VICENTE, Carlos (TTU) 6-4
3. Mehdi Laalej/Alvaro Fernandez Horta (FAU) def. TOSETTO, Rafael/SILVA, Lucca (TTU) 6-2
Singles
1. Jason Legall (FAU) def. TOSETTO, Rafael (TTU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) def. GRUBERT, Elias (TTU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
3. Mehdi Laalej (FAU) def. VICENTE, Carlos (TTU) 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
4. ALBIN, Wenceslao (TTU) def. Ignacio Garcia (FAU) 7-5, 6-1
5. Alvaro Fernandez Horta (FAU) vs. GARCIA, Gonzalo (TTU) 2-6, 2-5, unfinished
6. Luis Fernandez Labarta (FAU) vs. SILVA, Lucca (TTU) 0-6, 3-0, unfinished
FAU 4, Stetson 0
Doubles
1. Jason Legall/Ignacio Garcia (FAU) def. Josh Laka/Tim Gennes (STET) 6-4
2. Mehdi Laalej/Gabriel Sidney (FAU) def. Clement Hamel/Coilin MacNamara (STET) 6-3
3. Thomas Guy/Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) vs. Antoine Sanchez/Dennis Moses (STET) 4-5, unfinished
Singles
1. Jason Legall (FAU) def. Clement Hamel (STET) 6-4, 6-1
2. Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) def. Louis Gorregues (STET) 6-2, 6-0
3. Gabriel Sidney (FAU) vs. Tim Gennes (STET) 7-6 (7-2), 1-1, unfinished
4. Mehdi Laalej (FAU) vs. Christian Mills (STET) 6-2, 4-4, unfinished
5. Ignacio Garcia (FAU) def. Josh Laka (STET) 6-1, 6-1
6. Luis Fernandez Labarta (FAU) vs. Dennis Moses (STET) 1-6, 2-3, unfinished
What’s Next:
The Owls take an out-of-state road trip for three, next weekend and into the following week. They will take on South Alabama in Mobile on Sunday at 10 a.m.; Georgia in Athens on Monday, Feb. 25, at 2:30; and Georgia State the next day, in Atlanta, at 1:30. The following six matches will all be at home, the first coming on March 9 versus George Washington, at 11 a.m.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
