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Men's Tennis

MEN’S TENNIS FALLS AT UAB, UTC

After a strong showing in the season opener, the University of North Alabama men's tennis team came up short twice in a pair of road matches at UAB and Chattanooga. The Lions lost a 7-0 decision to the Blazers before falling 6-1 to UTC to fall to 1-2 on the season.
 
Against UAB, the Lions got off to a slow start in both doubles play and singles play and were never able to recover. The Blazers secured the doubles point to grab a 1-0 lead before sweeping six straight singles matches.
 
"We weren't very sharp and UAB took advantage of that," said UNA head tennis coach Brice Bishop. "We played too soft. You could tell this was just our second match."
 
North Alabama continued to struggle the following day at UTC. Playing in their third match in three days, the Lions fell to 1-2 on the year.
 
The Mocs got off to a quick start with a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles. Jason Pimenta and Cade Reasons the got UNA on the board with a solid 6-3 win at No. 3. UTC, however, would rally at No. 3 doubles to secure the 1-0 overall lead. Serving at 5-4 but facing two break points, the Mocs served two aces to clinch the doubles point. 
 
"Jason and Cade really played tough and won a lot of big points," said Bishop. "We needed that. We just couldn't get the big point when we needed it. You have to give their kid credit, he hit two big serves down break point."
 
UTC clinched the match with wins at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 1 singles.  The Lions got their lone point from Pimenta on court 2. Trailing 5-3, the junior played his best tennis of the spring and won 10 of the next 12 games to post the 7-6, 6-1 victory. 
 
"Jason was as physical as he's been all year," added Bishop. 
 
The Mocs were able to win singles matches at No. 5 and No. 6 to complete the scoring.
 
"I thought our effort was better today, but you could see our energy was low," Bishop said. "Playing three matches in three days is a bit much, but we approached this as a training camp. I really like how we played against UTC. For the most part, we were more physical." 
 
UNA is scheduled to open Gulf South Conference play Saturday at home against West Florida.
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Jason Pimenta

Jason Pimenta

6' 1"
Junior
Cade Reasons

Cade Reasons

6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jason Pimenta

Jason Pimenta

6' 1"
Junior
Cade Reasons

Cade Reasons

6' 0"
Freshman