Men's Tennis 3/11/2017 9:36:00 PM

UNA TENNIS SPLITS WITH NATIONALLY-RANKED CAMERON

FLORENCE – Trailing 3-1 to 16^th-ranked Cameron, the University of North Alabama men's tennis team rallied for a 4-3 victory Saturday at the UNA Tennis Complex. The UNA women's team came up short 4-1 to the No. 17 Aggies, giving the two programs a split on the chilly afternoon.

The win for the UNA men was the fourth straight as the Lions improved to 5-2 on the season. Following wins at No. 2 and No. 6 singles to tie the match, North Alabama clinched the win with Ray Donovan's victory at the No. 5 position.

"Wow, what a match," said UNA head tennis coach Brice Bishop. "I don't think anybody thought we would get the match in today, much less beat the rain, darkness, and a great team. I'm proud of these guys. It was a great team effort today."

With the match tied at 3-3, Donovan won the first set 6-3 before dropping the second set by the identical score, setting the stage for the exciting finale on Court 5. After trading early leads, Donovan faced a 5-3 deficit and faced a match point at 30-40 to Cameron's Julen Gutierrez. Using aggressive ground strokes, the junior from Athens, Ga., claimed three straight points for a 6-5 lead. With rain beginning to fall, he used a big forehand to seal the win and clinch the match for the Lions.

"I'm also so proud of Ray," Bishop added. "That was big what he did today."

After both teams agreed to use the NCAA Division I format and award a single point for doubles play, Cameron took the early lead with wins at the No. 3 and No. 1 spots.

The Aggies increased their lead to 2-0 with a victory at No. 1 singles before Benji Poire got UNA on the board with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles. Cameron then moved to one point from the overall win winning at the No. 4 position.

Trailing 3-1, the Lions began the impressive comeback. Max Druppel started the rally with a 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles to narrow the score to 3-2. George Markos evened the match at 3-3 winning 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 6 spot to set the stage for Donovan's clincher.

"Everything on this team starts and ends with Max Druppel," Bishop said. "The team was down 3-1 and he gutted out a tough match. Everybody seemed to respond to Max's win and raised their level of play."

The second straight loss for the UNA women dropped the team's record to 4-3 on the season. North Alabama played without Claudia Arroyo, who normally competes at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Lions. After playing five matches on the year at No. 1 singles, senior Olivera Ngouabeu was also held out of singles play.

After Cameron recorded a 6-0 win at No. 2 doubles, Nina Linke and Claire DeGeorge evened doubles play with a 6-1 win at the No. 3 position. The Aggies, however, were able to clinch the doubles point with a 6-3 victory at the top spot.

Cameron was able to extend its lead to 3-0 with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. The Lions only point came from Nina Linke, who remained undefeated on the season with a 6-4, 6-3 win at the top singles position. With the win, the freshman from Stuttgart, Germany improved to 7-0 on the year in singles play.

The Aggies clinched the match by winning at No. 4 singles. The remaining matches were stopped once the victory was secured.

"I thought the women gave great effort today," said Bishop. "Playing without your top two players is tough, but they competed. That is all you can ask. Nina continues to impress. That was a really big win for her."

Both UNA tennis teams will return to Gulf South Conference action next weekend with road swings at Shorter (Friday at 1 p.m. EST) and Lee (Saturday at 10 a.m. EST).

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Players Mentioned

Max Druppel: Senior

Ray Donovan: Junior

George Markos: Freshman

Claudia Arroyo: Sophomore

Claire DeGeorge: Sophomore

Olivera Ngouabeu: Senior

Nina Linke: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Max Druppel
: Senior

Ray Donovan
: Junior

George Markos
: Freshman

Claudia Arroyo
: Sophomore

Claire DeGeorge
: Sophomore

Olivera Ngouabeu
: Senior

Nina Linke
: Freshman