FULL RESULTS
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Eastern Washington University men's tennis team defeated North Dakota 4-3 in their second conference match today (Feb. 19). The squad is now 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference.
"It was a good match to bounce back from after a bad loss," said head coach Steve Clark. "We had multiple situations in the last match to win and we just didn't execute under pressure, so it was good for the guys to get it done in doubles even though it wasn't pretty. In singles, our top three guys just clamped down despite some late leads lost -- they managed to find ways to extend the lead."
The Eagles clinched the doubles point with two strong wins against the Hawks, starting with Scott Paz and Flavien Raveau in the No. 1 spot with the 6-2 victory. The Hawks took the next match against Victor Pereira and Jeremy Field where they fell 6-7 with a three-point tiebreaker. Ricardo Almeida and Martin Bats secured the doubles point for the Eagles with their 7-5 win in the No. 3 spot.
The Eagles won on the first three courts in singles. Paz opened up singles play nicely with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win, followed by Field in the No. 2 spot who won 7-6 (5), 6-2. Raveau also defeated his opponent 6-3, 7-5 to win the overall match for EWU despite the losses on the following courts. Bats competed in the No. 4 spot and fell to his opponent 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 as well as Pereira who lost 3-6, 3-6. Almeida closed out competition in the No. 6 spot (4-6, 6-4, 5-10).
"Paz won the first set in dominating fashion, then he was down 5-2 in the second and came back and won in a tiebreaker," said Clark regarding singles play. "Field lost a lead but managed to break in and win the tiebreaker, then won in the second set with tremendous grit. Raveau won the first set in a tight contest and then had three match points he just couldn't convert. Finally, once again in his serve, he had the match point and pulled it out."
"This was a good win. It was similar to Montana State with Jeremy Mueller out due to illness. He played during the Northern Colorado match but just could not muster up the energy, so it was good winning with an incomplete lineup. Some guys were unable to hit certain shots due to injury, so it should only get better."
Eastern will host Weber State next weekend (Feb. 24) for another conference match before hitting the road for Sacramento State (Mar. 3) and Nevada (Mar. 4).
For more information on Eastern Washington's men's tennis team, follow @EWUAthletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
