LAKELAND, Fla. - The No. 11 Florida Southern College men's tennis team lost its singles rally against Lynn University on Saturdays afternoon at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center. Mocs honored seniors Lukas Bonfante, Luke Lau, Inaki Braun Simo, Matteo Feggi, and Ryan Rajakar in a pre-match ceremony.
The Mocs (14-5, 1-3 SSC) won the doubles point but were unable to tally enough on the singles front in a 4-3 loss on Senior Day. The Fighting Knights (7-5, 3-3 SSC) staged a strong singles comeback to win four courts and secure the conference win.
In doubles, the No. 26 pairing of Chris Fok Kow and Mario Garoz won by a quick 6-1 score at the #1 court. Lynn responded with a 6-4 win at the #2 court by the No. 40 pairing of Amatiste and Olive-Blanco against Bosko Boskovic and Braun Simo. Mocs clinched the doubles point with a win at the No. 3 court by George Russell and Feggi by a 6-4 to go up 1-0 in team scores.
The Moccasins struggled in singles in the opening courts as Lynn had three straight court wins. No. 45 Russell for FSC and No. 31 Felline from Lynn battled at #1, but Lynn won 6-3, 6-3. At the #4 court, Braun Simo lost in two sets against Olive-Blanco 6-3, 6-4, as did Boskovic against No. 71 Amatiste 6-4, 6-1. FSC had a big comeback at the #2 court by No. 14 Fok Kow to win in three sets after losing the first set.
The match was clinched by the Fighting Knights with a win at the No. 3 court as No. 50 Garoz lost in a second-set tiebreaker against Guberman. Garoz lost the first set 6-2 and came back in the second to send to a tiebreaker but lost 7-6 (9-7) against his opponent. The final singles court was played out as Edoardo Melindo finished with 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win, though FSC lost 4-3.
The Mocs will host its last home conference match of the season against Eckerd College on Tuesday, April 9, set for a 3 p.m. start at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
