Firebirds Men’s Tennis Edged by Howard, 5-4
WASHINGTON, DC – Tied 4-4 with the final singles match yet to be completed, the University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team was ultimately edged, 5-4 by cross town Division I rival Howard University on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon at UDC Tennis Courts.
The Firebirds (1-5) trailed 2-1 after doubles play, with only UDC's No. 2 pair of Rok Bozic and Marco Feligioni picking up a win, 8-1 over Hawkins Owens and Laguna Foster, but they came back to force a 4-all tie with three victories in the first five singles matches.
Marco Feligioni defeated Nico Sorrell, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 5, Ander Murillo outlasted Foster, 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3, and Alexis Baguelin grinded out a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 win over Spencer Kelly at No. 4, leaving the decisive match point up to the winner of the No. 6 singles match between Howard's Owens and UDC's Noppawat Satprertpry.
The Bangkok, Thailand native and team newcomer battled after a 6-2 first set loss to win the 2nd set tie-break, 7-6 (7-4), but ultimately lost the final set, 6-2.
UDC will take on its first two East Region opponents this spring when the Firebirds visit Philadelphia to take on two Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) schools - Philadelphia University and Chestnut Hill - back-to-back on Friday, March 25th and Saturday, March 26th.