VALDOSTA —
Valdosta State’s women’s tennis team saw a rally in singles play fall just short, as the Blazers lost 5-4 to No. 9 West Florida on Thursday evening at the VSU Tennis Courts.
The Argonauts jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead in doubles. Monika Kochanova and Nina Bubelova defeated Michelle Fischer and Jennifer Rink 8-2 at No. 1 doubles.
Luiza Sonnervig and Mariana Sonnervig downed Laura Ubeda and Julianna Boehm 8-3 at No. 2. Jacqueline March and Lisa May closed out doubles with an 8-6 victory over Jessica Tuggle and Alina Nagel at No. 3.
VSU stormed back as singles play started, winning the first two points and four of the first five. Ubeda opened the Valdosta State scoring with a 6-2, 6-2 win over 35th-ranked Giovana Patitucci at No. 4 singles. Nagel downed Bubelova 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3.
Luiza Sonnervig put West Florida on the brink of victory with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Rink at No. 2. But Fischer downed Kochanova 6-4, 7-5 at No. 1 and Boehm defeated Heather May Walton 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5.
The match came down to No. 6 singles, where May and Tuggle matched up. Tuggle claimed the first set 6-3, only to have May rebound for a victory by the same score in the second set. The third set was back and forth. Tuggle took a 4-3 lead, but May clawed back to win the last three games for a 6-4 victory.
The fifth-ranked West Florida men’s team used a strong singles performance to defeat Valdosta State 7-2.
The Argonauts (5-0) opened the match by winning two of the three doubles matches. West Florida’s Elio Latela and Felipe Frattini opened the match with an 8-0 victory over Andrew Harvin and Joachim Schemm, while UWF’s Kevin Ducros and Bruno Savi downed Konstantin Kutschenko and Mario Navarro 8-4. Valdosta State’s Tammo Haake and Sebastian Jasyk defeated Tony Rajaobelina and Domenico Sano 8-5 at No. 2 doubles.
West Florida then won the first five singles matches to close out the victory. Frattini started singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Haake at No. 5, then Sano downed Harvin 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6. Latela earned a 6-2, 6-0 win over Jasyk at No. 4. Savi, the nation's fifth-ranked player, defeated Navarro 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2. At No. 3, Rajaobelina rebounded from a 6-3 loss in the first set to defeat Schemm 6-2, 6-2 in the final two sets.
Kutschenko, the No. 11 player in the country, got the Blazers their only singles point, as he defeated 13th-ranked Ducros 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
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Valdosta State's Jennifer Rink hits a backhand during her doubles match against West Florida on Thursday. Hamilton Tillman
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