Terre Haute, IN. -- Men's Tennis visited Indiana on Tuesday to take on the Fightin' Engineers. Ranked 18
th in the central region, the matchup provided solid competition leading into the conference tournament.
Brody Swan and
Daniel Gomez shot out of the gates firing and handed the team a 1-0 lead without dropping a game on court three.
Jules Kitchingman and
Nat Kenworthy didn't have enough juice at 2
nd doubles, and
Wyatt Dale and
Greg Sovie battled back and forth the entire way at the top spot before falling short in a tiebreak.
Although Rose Hulman took the first three singles spots on courts two, three, and six to clinch the overall match, the Panthers fought back throughout the lineup to keep it close. Kenworthy played a marathon and went all the way to a tiebreak at 6-6 in a full third set. Even after giving up a 5-2 game lead he won the big points in the closing moments.
Kitchingman followed that with another squeaker in a third-set tiebreak, played since the match had been decided. He took a 7-3 lead before giving it up entirely but bounced back to win three of the last four points and seal the win. Gomez was last to finish against the central's #13 player. They split sets to force a full third, but Gomez struggled to keep his usually reliable forehand in during the final frame and his loss concluded a 6-3 overall decision.
The Panthers face the winner of Fontbonne vs Westminster in the semifinals of the SLIAC tournament on Friday afternoon.
Box Score (winners in bold):
1
st doubles:
Wyatt Dale/
Greg Sovie vs
Andre Adam/Josh Giambattista 8-7 (4)
2
nd:
Jules Kitchingman/
Nat Kenworthy vs
Ian Landwehr/Austin Perry 8-3
3
rd:
Daniel Gomez/Brody Swan vs Ben Strate/Jacob Pluta 8-0
1
st singles: #20 Gomez vs
#13 Landwehr 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
2
nd: Dale vs
Adam 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
3
rd: Sovie vs
Perry 6-4, 6-2
4
th:
Kitchingman vs Joseph Conrad 6-4, 4-6, 10-8
5
th:
Kenworthy vs Giambattista 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (2)
6
th: Swan vs
Grant Stamper 6-2, 6-1
Final- Rose Hulman 6-3
