The Panthers opened their home schedule on Saturday, hosting the Big Blue from Millikin at noon, followed by St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
Doubles play began unevenly on courts two and three, while
Greg Sovie and
Wyatt Dale jumped ahead two early breaks at the top spot. Both teams struggled to hold serve at 3
rd doubles before Millikin eventually pulled away for a close win.Â
Daniel Gomez and
Juan Segovia battled for the big points despite not playing their best, and to their credit they still got the job done in the tiebreak. The hot start at 1
st doubles quickly disappeared, leaving Sovie and Dale to fight through big momentum swings before saving a match point and clinching a 9-7 tiebreak win.Â
The Panthers got two quick wins and a 4-1 lead after Gomez and Sovie ran through singles. Courts two and four became interesting after each match split the first two sets. The Panthers came to play again when it mattered most, as Dale clinched the overall match in his third set and Segovia closed his out soon after.
With all other spots decided,
William Johnson and
Elliott Matthiesen settled in against the Big Blue at numbers five and six. Millikin's consistency earned them both wins to reach a 6-3 overall score, though neither Panther was overmatched.
The afternoon matchup with the Eutectics gave the team some relative rest in a contest that wasn't nearly as competitive. Two games were lost between all three doubles courts, and only five more in singles.
The Panthers next play on February 29
th against Simpson College at home, starting at 9 am. Come out to Hexberg to get loud and support the team!
Box score vs Millikin (winners in bold):
1
st doubles:
Wyatt Dale/Greg Sovie vs Jacob Palley/Logan Bennett 8-7(7)
2
nd:
Daniel Gomez/Juan Segovia vs Holden Owens/Clayton Maack 8-7(6)
3
rd:
William Johnson/
Elliott Matthiesen vs
James Broach/Cory Erickson 8-5
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1
st singles:
#14 Gomez vs Palley 6-4, 6-0
2
nd:
Dale vs Maack 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
3
rd:
Sovie vs Owens 6-3, 6-1
4
th:
Segovia vs Bennett 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2
5
th: Johnson vs
Adrian Sanchez-Rodriguez 6-3, 6-1
6
th: Matthiesen vs
Erickson 6-1, 6-4
Final: Principia 6-3
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vs St. Louis College of Pharmacy:
1
st doubles:
Wyatt Dale/Greg Sovie vs Rahul Jilakara/Anirudh Kalathil 8-0
2
nd:
Daniel Gomez/Juan Segovia vs Alec Johnson/James Bamberger 8-0
3
rd:
William Johnson/Elliott Matthiesen vs Clark Berry/Mensur Koso 8-2
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1
st singles:
#14 Gomez vs Jilakara 6-0, 6-1
2
nd:
Dale vs Bamberger 6-0, 6-1
3
rd:
Sovie vs Berry 6-0, 6-0
4
th:
Segovia vs Johnson 6-0, 6-0
5
th:
Johnson vs Kalathil 6-1, 6-2
6
th:
Matthiesen vs Koso 6-0, 6-0
Final: Principia 9-0
