Results
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The postseason run for the seventh-seeded Eckerd College men's tennis program came to an end in the Sunshine State Conference Championship backdraw against sixth-seeded Florida Tech on Friday afternoon, 5-0.
For seasoned veterans
Dylan Randazzo and
Ben Levy, it marked the end of their four-year collegiate senior careers as the Tritons (1-14 overall) faced the Panthers (12-11 overall) for the second time this spring.
Eckerd had squared off against No. 2 Lynn University in the championship portion of the bracket in quarterfinal action yesterday. FIT had dropped their opening-round matchup against No. 3 Saint Leo University.
“I'm really proud of our team this season, especially the seniors who showed so much heart and guts this year,” EC Head Coach Erin Koenig said. “We will really miss them and their leadership. We had so many tough battles this season and some close matches that just didn't go our way.”
One of those close matches was against the same Florida Tech team back on Feb. 17 as the Tritons clawed their way to a doubles sweep to begin the match. Even though the Panthers came back in singles competition, EC had battled to contend for an elusive league win.
With many of the matchups remaining the same in today's backdraw, the Panthers flipped the script and came away with a sweep in doubles action to get started.
Doubles play was interrupted briefly when a swarm of bees hovered across the courts.
The No. 1 and 4 singles contests went final in favor of Florida Tech while the other remaining matchups went unfinished.
Freshman
Frazier Springfield and sophomore
Luke Burton finished the season by leading the team in wins with three apiece.
“With the high caliber of players and teams in our conference and region, our backs are up against the wall in all these matches and I'm just really proud of my players' effort this season,” Koenig added.
