LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 13 Florida Southern College men's tennis team opened the 2025 season with a close contest against No. 3 Saint Leo University, ultimately losing 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
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The Moccasins (0-1) rallied after losing the doubles point to earn three court wins but ultimately lost in the tiebreak of the fourth court. The Lions (1-0) echoed the 4-3 win in the 2024 NCAA regionals matchup with another close finish against the Mocs.
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Florida Southern had a tough matchup in doubles with every court facing strong competition. On court one,
Chris Fok Kow and
Mario Garoz lost 6-4 to Thiel and Hirano, with a 6-2 loss on court two by
George Russell and
Edoardo Melindo against the No. 3 pairing of Cohen and Iriarte. Against No. 19 ranked Kato and Segovia,
Sam Frizelle and
Onur Turgut took it to a tiebreak, in which they lost 7-6 (7-2) for the doubles point to SLU.
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Despite losing the doubles point, Florida Southern bounced back with wins on the first three courts of the lineup, led by the #1 court where Frizelle beat Thiel 6-4, 6-3. Fok Kow won the second court 6-2, 6-4, and Garoz, ranked No. 38 among singles, won the third court 6-3, 6-0. SLU had wins on courts five and six over Turgut and
Gabriel Jornert in two sets, leading the match to the fourth court between
Matthew Hewitt and Kodai Kato. Hewitt won the first set 6-4, before losing 6-2 in the second. The highly contested third set went in favor of SLU, who won 6-4 in the tiebreak to win the match 4-3 over the Mocs.
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The Mocs will stay at home to host No. 2 Flagler College on Saturday, Feb. 8, with a 2 p.m. start at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
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