LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's tennis team fell just short of a top-15 upset in a 4-3 loss against No. 15 Washburn University Monday afternoon at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
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The Mocs (3-3, 1-1 SSC) had a massive doubles point win to open the match but were unable to get enough singles flight wins for the upset. The Ichabods (3-2) rallied after their doubles loss with four flight wins to win the match by a 4-3 score.
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Florida Southern fed off a big crowd in the doubles competition that opened with a 6-3 win at #1 by
Chris Fok Kow and
Mario Garoz. The pairing then cheered on an exciting 6-3 win by
Bosko Boskovic and
Inaki Braun Simo at the #3 court to clinch the doubles point. Continuing play at the #2 court,
Ryan Rajakar and
George Russell lost in a 7-5 contest.
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Against top 15 singles opponents, Russell and Garoz had big flight wins as the only FSC court wins in singles. Russell won 6-4, 6-4 against No. 10 Sebastian Pjontek at #1 court and Garoz extended his win streak to four with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win over No. 11 Santiago Rendon at #3.
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Despite the two big court wins, Fok Kow lost 6-3, 6-3 at #2, and Boskovic a loss at #5 in a 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) score. Braun Simo split his first two sets against No. 30 Pavlos Parson but ultimately lost in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-3) to tie the match 3-3. The final court was
Elliott Altman, who lost in two 6-2, 6-4.
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The Mocs continue their busy week with a short road trip to the USTA campus in Orlando to take on Davenport University on Wednesday, Feb. 28, set for a 3 p.m. start.
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