Firebirds Fall to Division I George Mason in Men’s Tennis Season Opener
DUMFRIES, VA – The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team was defeated, 6-1 by Division I foe George Mason University in the Firebirds' season opener on Friday, February 7th at Montclair Country Club indoor tennis facility.
Junior Simon Andersson (Business Management – Ystad, Sweden/Sydskanska Gymnasiet) earned UDC's lone point of the day with a thrilling comeback win at No. 4 singles over Tanner Baine, 2-6, 6-5 (4), 6-4.
Today's match was played according to the NCAA Division I-mandated Winter Experimental format which dictates: 1. No warm-up with opponents. 2. Doubles play one set to six with a tiebreaker at 5-all. No ad scoring is used. 3. Singles matches play two out of three sets with tiebreakers at 5-all. No ad scoring is used.
The Patriots (2-1) swept doubles play beginning with Jimmy Davis and Christopher Borden defeating Andersson and freshman Simon Jackermeier (Business Management – Munich, Germany/Theresien-Gymnasium Munich) by a score of 6-3 at No. 2 doubles. Joe Hill and Aaron Capitel followed with a 6-4 No. 3 doubles win over senior Carlos Quiroga and freshman Drew Stewart, and Taylor Sargent and Tanner Baine completed the sweep with a 6-4 win over seniors Miguel Uzcategui and Ike Kiro at No. 1 doubles. With the sweep in doubles play, GMU clinched the one match point awarded for doubles play.
In singles play, George Mason's Jimmy Davis bested Kiro, a First Team All-ECC selection last year, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, and Capitel clinched the match victory with a 6-3, 6-5(4) win over Jackermeier at No. 3. Uzcategui, also a First Team All-ECC honoree last year, won the first set of his No. 1 singles match, but was ultimately bested by Hill, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Andersson's victory put the Firebirds on the board to make it 4-1, but the Patriots closed out the day with two consecutive singles wins at No. 5 and No. 6.
The Firebirds (1-1) return to the courts on March 6th when they visit cross-town rival Howard.