Normal- The Alabama A&M men and women’s tennis teams both finished the weekend with two losses in Montgomery, Alabama.
On Friday, February 15th, the teams were unsuccessful against the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State University. The men fell 7-0 in their
season opener and first match under first year head coach Willis Mbandi.
JSU blanked A&M 7-0 with a straight-sets win over Dominique Alexander and with wins over seniors Nicholas Burger and standout Desta Sandy.
Burger was able to pick up a single game victory in his singles match defeat against JSU’s Nenad Marcec.
Things were no different on the women’s side. The Lady Bulldogs were dominated on the court, also falling 7-0. The doubles team of Kara Kennemore and Quanda Jarrett fell in straight sets. The Maroon & White also dropped each of their singles matches on the day.
The second match of the trip concluded as the first, with the men and women of A&M falling 7-0 to their competitor, the Owls of Kennesaw State University. This is the second consecutive year the Bulldogs have been swept 7-0 by the Owls. KSU leads the all-time series record between the two schools, now at 5-1.
The contests went as follows:
vs. Jacksonville State
Doubles:
1. Guasti/Lima def. Cherry/ Warner 8-5
2. Nguyen/Bizinos def. Taylor/Shaw 8-3
3. Knezevic/Lefton def. Jarrett/Kennemore 8-0
Singles:
1. R. Guasti def. D. Cherry 6-1, 6-3
2. O. Nguyen def. S. Warner 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. Z. Bizinos def. M. Shaw 6-7, 6-2, 10-5
4. D. Kerindi def. J. Taylor 6-0, 6-0
5. K. Tomlin def. Q. Jarrett 6-0, 6-1
6. A. Cmiljic def. k Kennemore 6-0, 6-1
Men
Doubles:
1. Sundberg/Marcec def. Alexander/Burger 8-0
2. Santos/Wenzel def. Sandy/Brown 8-4
3. Pansera/Kellett def. Default
Singles:
1. I. Santos def. D. Sandy 6-2, 6-3
2. A. Sundberg def. D. Alexander 6-1, 6-1
3. N. Mercec def. N. Burger 6-0, 6-1
4. F. Diaz def. E. Brown 6-0, 6-0
5. F. Wenzel def. W. Law 6-0, 6-0
6. F. Watanabe def. Default
vs. Kennesaw State University
Doubles:
1. Stein/Apostu def. Shaw/Taylor 8-1
2. Hueckinghaus/Plocher def. Jarrett/Warner 8-1
3. Lagerkvist/Castro def. Cherry/Kennemore 8-4
Singles:
1. V. Stein def. D. Cherry 6-2, 6-1
2. A. Apostu def. S. Warner 6-1, 6-7, 10-5
3. J. Haueckinghaus def. M. Shaw 7-5, 6-1
4. T. Plocher def. J. Taylor 6-2, 6-1
5. T. Lagerkvist def. Q. Jarrett 6-0, 6-3
6. I. Casto def. K. Kennemore 6-1, 6-1
Men:
Doubles:
1. Menhofer/Theodor def. Alexander/Burger 8-4
2. Pena/Ozdemir def. Sandy/Brown 8-1
3. Johnson/She def. Default
Singles:
1. T. Menhofer def. D. Sandy 6-3, 6-4
2. G. Ozdemir def. D. Alexander 6-1, 1-1 RET
3. A. Pena def. N. Burger 6-0, 6-2
4. M. Yorsh def. E. Brown 6-0, 6-0
5. M. Johnson def. W. Law 6-2, 6-1
6. N. She def. Default
The Maroon & White will be back in action February 22nd - 24th for the West Round Robin tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
