Results
LAKELAND, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's tennis team earned a pair of upset victories at the top of the lineup courtesy of
Yosua Adiyasa and
Nikita Valuiskikh, fighting against Florida Southern College on the road in defeat
on Tuesday afternoon, 7-2.
The Moccasins (1-1, 1-1 SSC), ranked 26th nationally and seventh in the South Region, swept doubles action while the Tritons (0-3, 0-2 SSC) claimed two of the six singles matches.
"I'm very proud of all the men today and everyone fought until the end; we are definitely progressing as a team as the year goes on," said EC interim head coach
Ben Maxwell. "Yosua had a huge win today against a very tough player. It's exciting to see all his hard work and effort paying off. He has huge potential to do well this year.
"Nikita played a very smart match against a tough opponent," he added. "He kept calm and collected throughout the whole match, and I'm proud to see him making the changes he needs to become a great player."
The sophomore Adiyasa opened up singles play in the No. 1 slot to pick up his second win (6-2, 5-7, 10-3) of the season against the ITA's No. 49 nationally-ranked and No. 17 South Region-ranked Emanuel Lueber.
Historically, the Tritons' No. 1 singles player has had recent success against Lueber after 2013 program graduate
Dylan Randazzo toppled the nationally-ranked Florida Southern Moccasin No. 1 last year when he was ranked 34th nationally and 11th in the South Region.
Senior
Nikita Valuiskikh followed in the No. 2 slot with a 6-2, 2-6, 10-5, triumph over FSC's Nathan Leavitt. The win was also Valuiskikh's second of the season.
Both Adiyasa and Valuiskikh delivered their respective singles victories against the Mocs after falling in the second set to their opponents.
Freshman
Eddie Lewis worked his singles match in the fifth spot to a compelling three-set final, including a grueling tiebreaker first-set win against FSC's Charles Garneau.
Adiyasa and Springfield contested the best outing for the Tritons in doubles play in a close 8-5 final to Lueber and Benoit
Paradis.
Paradis battled junior
Stephen Felman in the No. 4 singles matchup while sophomore
Frazier Springfield faced Carl Lundberg in the No. 3 position. Junior
Luke Burton rounded out the lineup by contesting Vladimir Barabash in singles.
The Tritons will return to the Turley Athletic Complex to face No. 1 Barry University
on Friday afternoon beginning at
3 p.m.
