CHARLOTTE, N.C. – (April 6, 2019) – Down 1-0 early, then 3-2 late and facing the clinching point, the Florida Atlantic University men’s tennis team got tiebreak wins from their two seniors, Mehdi Laalej and Gabriel Sidney, to overcome Charlotte on Saturday night, 4-3, to move to 3-0 in Conference USA play.
Notables:
· Trailing after doubles, the Owls (17-8, 3-0 C-USA) quickly gained the lead on straight-set wins by No. 6 Alvaro Fernandez Horta (6-1, 6-1) and No. 1 Jason Legall (6-0, 6-2)
· Charlotte (8-13, 0-2 C-USA) got wins at No. 2 and No. 5 to push back ahead
· Laalej was taken to a second-set tiebreak at No. 3, but got the win to make it a 3-3 match, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
· It came down to No. 4 Sidney. He had won the first set, again in a tiebreak, 7-6 (7-1), before getting equaled by a 3-6 decision in the second. Taken all the way out in the final set, he was able to win the match for the Owls, 7-6 (7-4)
Full Results:
FAU 4, Charlotte 3
Doubles
1. #30 Luca Keist/C. Christoforou (CHA) def. #81 Jason Legall/Ignacio Garcia (FAU) 7-6 (7-3)
2. Benjamin Wayand/Ignasi de Rueda (CHA) def. Mehdi Laalej/Gabriel Sidney (FAU) 6-3
3. Kirac Bekisoglu/A. Fernandez Horta (FAU) def. Oliver Sec/Leonardo Menezes (CHA) 7-5
Singles
1. Jason Legall (FAU) def. #118 Luca Keist (CHA) 6-0, 6-2
2. Ignasi de Rueda (CHA) def. Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Mehdi Laalej (FAU) def. Benjamin Wayand (CHA) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
4. Gabriel Sidney (FAU) def. C. Christoforou (CHA) 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Oliver Sec (CHA) def. Ignacio Garcia (FAU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
6. Alvaro Fernandez Horta (FAU) def. Leonardo Menezes (CHA) 6-1, 6-1
What’s Next:
The finale in Charlotte against league opponents comes Sunday at 10 a.m. against Middle Tennessee. That will close out regular season play ahead of the 2019 C-USA Championship, April 19-21 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
– 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.
