SALISBURY, Md. – Facing their second ranked opponent this spring already, Averett University men's tennis battled, but came up short in a 5-2 loss at No. 31 Salisbury University on Sunday morning.
Salisbury (6-0) was made to work for the doubles point, especially at the No. 2 and No. 3 matches. Averett's (2-2) tandem of
Rafael Jodas and
Sam Egui battled to the depth, but lost 7-5 to the Seagulls' Gianluca Beaujon and Mitchell Desman, to clinch the doubles point for the home side. The Cougars were close to sealing some consolation in the third match of the doubles rubber, but
Alex Donnelly and
Julius Bert lost in the set tiebreak, 7-6, (7-4) to Aron Bursztyn and Garv Suri.
The Seagulls did clinch the overall rubber with four more singles victories, but Averett picked up impressive wins at the second and fourth singles slots.
Jaeden Mukkaladyil moved to 6-3 on the year with a 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 1-0 (10-7) victory over Jhayden Pappas. The Cougars'
Prabjeet Chandhok clinched his second victory of the spring, defeating Beaujon 6-3, 6-4 by final.
Averett hits the road for an ODAC mid-day clash at Bridgewater College next, on Tuesday, March 11. Start time is set for 2 p.m.
