Men's Tennis 2/28/2016 7:32:00 PM

UNA TENNIS TEAMS SWEEP DELTA STATE

FLORENCE – The University of North Alabama men's and women's tennis teams each recorded their second straight Gulf South Conference win Sunday afternoon by defeating Delta State by identical 7-2 scores. Both UNA teams entered the matches at Cox Creek Park coming off a road win last week at Christian Brothers.

The victory for the men is the third straight overall. The Lions are currently No. 39 in the latest Division II ITA rankings. After taking a 2-1 lead following doubles action, UNA (4-2 overall, 2-1 GSC) was able to maintain a lead throughout singles play.

Playing their first match together, sophomores Miguel Garcia and Javier Cordero got the Lions on the board first with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles. After the Statesman evened the score with a win at No. 2, Guillaume Dechoz and Brendon Millington-Herrmann put UNA up again with an 8-5 victory at the top spot.

Garcia quickly extended the Lions' lead to 3-1 with an impressive 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles. Delta State got to within a point winning at No. 1 singles before Millington-Herrmann pushed the lead to 4-2, coming from behind to get the 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles.

With the Lions splitting sets at No. 5 and No. 6, Benjamin Poire clinched the match for UNA at the No. 3 spot. After winning the first set, Poire trailed 3-4 in the second set before making his move. The graduate student from Amiens, Frace was able to take a 6-5 lead and finish the match with a pair of volley winners to get the 7-5, 7-5 win.

"That was big for us and Benji," said UNA head tennis coach Brice Bishop. "He is coming off an ankle injury and I wasn't sure what he had. He had plenty."

With the match now clinched, Max Druppel was able to win his match at No. 5 when his opponent retired. Taylor Ausbon also finished out the Lions scoring winning 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 at No. 6 singles.

"I'm very proud of the guys winning these tough matches," added Bishop. "These were really big wins for us today. I was especially pleased with how we played doubles since we changed up our lineup."

The women's match was very similar to the men's. The Lions also took a 2-1 lead after doubles before winning five of the six singles matches.

Freshmen Claudia Arroyo and Nele Seitz got the Lions started winning 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. Delta State was able to even the match winning at No. 3 before Olivera Ngouabeu and Donna Haycock gave UNA the lead again winning 8-5 at No. 1.

Claire DeGeorge wasted little time adding to the lead with a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles. After DSU cut into the lead with a win at No. 4 singles, Ngouabeu put the Lions within a point of clinching by winning 6-2, 6-4 at the top singles position. Arroyo, one of three freshman in the Lions lineup, clinched the match winning 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.

With the overall match decided, the two remaining matches played a tiebreaker for the third set. Seitz won 6-7, 6-3, 10-2 at No. 5 singles while Haycock won 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 at No. 2.

"This was a big win for the women," Bishop said. "We needed a good start and they gave it to us in doubles play. Overall they really stayed focused today."

Both UNA teams will be back in action on March 6, with a road match at Tuskegee. Match time is set for 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Ausbon: Sophomore

Javier Cordero: Sophomore

Guillaume Dechoz: Senior

Max Druppel: Junior

Miguel Garcia: Sophomore

Brendon Millington-Herrmann: Sophomore

Benjamin Poire: Graduate Student

Olivera Ngouabeu: Junior

Claire DeGeorge: Freshman

Donna Haycock: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Taylor Ausbon
: Sophomore

Javier Cordero
: Sophomore

Guillaume Dechoz
: Senior

Max Druppel
: Junior

Miguel Garcia
: Sophomore

Brendon Millington-Herrmann
: Sophomore

Benjamin Poire
: Graduate Student

Olivera Ngouabeu
: Junior

Claire DeGeorge
: Freshman

Donna Haycock
: Sophomore