Firebirds Pick up Pivotal 6-3 Win at Roberts Wesleyan; Earn No. 3 Seed in ECC Tournament
ROCHESTER, NY – The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team picked up a pivotal, 6-3 win in its regular season finale vs. East Coast Conference foe Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. With the victory, UDC avoids a three-way tie for 3rd place in the league standings, and, instead, earns the No. 3 seed in the Championship Tournament outright.
The Firebirds (5-8, 3-2 ECC) won two of the three doubles matches and four of the six singles matches to claim the crucial road victory. The Redhawks (11-12, 1-4 ECC) had their Senior Day spoiled as this loss ruined their post-season bid.
With doubles play to start the match, UDC's Ander Murillo and Noppawat Satprertpry defeated Jose Carrillo and Jose Lopez, 8-2 at No. 3 doubles for the first match point. The Firebirds' No. 2 pair of Rok Bozic and Marco Feligioni also managed to out-fight Gui Plentz de Liz and Rene Torti, 8-5. UDC was close to a doubles sweep, but two Redhawk seniors – Charlie Farres and Robert Beer – outlasted Alexis Baguelin and Diego Pinto, 9-8(1) at No. 1 doubles.
In singles play, Beer was the first to close out his match at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-1 over Pinto, forcing a 2-2 match tie. At that point, however, UDC strung together three straight wins to clinch the match victory. First, Baguelin defeated Torti, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4, then Murillo bested Lopez, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3, and Feligioni gutted out a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(1) victory in a battle vs. Plent de Liz at No. 5.
In what would be his final collegiate match, Farres got the better of Bozic in a hotly-contested three-set match at No. 1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, but Satprertpry closed out the day on a high note for UDC with a come-from-behind, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 6 over Carillo.
UDC will take on No. 2 seed and tournament host, Queens College in the ECC Semifinals on Friday, April 29th.