VALDOSTA —
The Valdosta State men’s tennis team fell to USC-Aiken in the team’s season opener Friday.
After falling behind in doubles, 2-1, the Blazers split singles play to fall in the overall match, 5-4.
The second doubles team was the first to strike for VSU, and Tammo Haake and Sebastian Jasyk did it convincingly. Haake and Jasyk beat Ettore Damiani and Max Wichelhaus, 8-1.
Unfortunately Konstantin Kutschenko and Mario Navarro fell in the top spot to Kevin Zerath and Patrick Stiebinger, 8-6. Andy Quirk and Bruno Orlandini beat Joachim Schemm and Andrew Harvin, 8-4, in third doubles.
The top three Blazers in singles action represented themselves well with Kutschenko, Navarro and Schemm all earning victories. Kutschenko’s was close as he edged Zerath out in the first set, 7-6 (4), but ran away in the second set, 6-3.
Navarro went to three sets with Stiebinger, opening with a 6-1 win. The Pacer rebounded with a 6-3 win of his own but Navarro outlasted him in the third to win 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
Third singles also went to three sets, but Schemm showed the needed resiliency to get the win. After dropping the first set, 6-4, he bounced back to beat Damiani, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Unfortunately, that would end the success for VSU. The bottom three singles all went to USC-Aiken as Lucas Gabbi took down Jasyk, 7-6 (6), 6-3, and Haake and Andrew Harvin both fell in straight sets.
Haake in fifth singles fel to Quirk, 6-3, 6-1, while Harvin dropped in the bottom spot to Orlandini, 6-1, 6-0.
Valdosta State will look to bounce back in the team’s second home match against Georgia College on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
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Konstantin Kuschenko struggles to hit a ball over the net during Valdosta State’s 5-4 loss to USC-Aiken Friday afternoon in Valdosta. Hamilton Tillman | Special to the Times
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VSU men’s tennis starts year with 5-4 loss to USC-Aiken
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