Doubles Play Strong in Loss to Eighth-Ranked Fighting Knights

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd men's tennis team held a lead over No. 8 Lynn University after doubles play, but the Fighting Knights won all six singles contests for a 7-2 victory on Friday at the Bullard Courts.

The afternoon got off to a fantastic start for Eckerd (7-6, 0-5 SSC) after winning two of the three doubles matches for a 2-1 lead against Lynn (15-2, 3-0 SSC).

"I'm really pleased with our doubles play today," said EC head coach Ben Maxwell.  "We played unreal.  The guys were on and it was very rewarding to see them playing at such a high level."

Eddie Lewis and Bruno Alves continued to mesh as a team, posting an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles for their sixth win of the season.

At No. 2 doubles, freshmen Matt Spasic and Will Stone played with the composure of upperclassmen.  After falling behind, 7-4, the tandem fought back to win the next five games for a 9-7 victory.  Stone and Spasic are now 11-2 on the season.

The Tritons continued to battle in singles play but were unable to build on their doubles momentum.  Lewis put up a solid fight against Jean-Baptiste Mateo, the nation's No. 5 player, before losing 7-5, 6-3.

Victor Appelqvist also bounced back from a tough first set to take sixth-ranked Mehdi Laalej to the limit in the second set.

"Lynn got the best of us today.  They're a very tough team and my hat's off to them for playing so well," Maxwell said.  "We are looking forward to our next one on Sunday."

Eckerd hosts Webber International (Fla.) on Sunday at 12:00 PM.

Doubles competition
1. Florian Clemares/Mehdi Laalej (LYNNM) def. Victor Appelqvist/Alasdair Knox (ECM) 8-4
2. Matt Spasic/Will Stone (ECM) def. Tristan Houle/Jean-Baptiste Mateo (LYNNM) 9-7
3. Eddie Lewis/Bruno Alves (ECM) def. Jose Porfirio/Danyang Xu (LYNNM) 8-6

Singles competition
1. #6 Mehdi Laalej (LYNNM) def. Victor Appelqvist (ECM) 6-0, 7-5
2. #5 Jean-Baptiste Mateo (LYNNM) def. Eddie Lewis (ECM) 7-5, 6-3
3. Jose Porfirio (LYNNM) def. Will Stone (ECM) 6-2, 6-4
4. Tristan Houle (LYNNM) def. Matt Spasic (ECM) 6-1, 6-0
5. Florian Clemares (LYNNM) def. Alasdair Knox (ECM) 6-4, 6-2
6. Paulo Santos Costa (LYNNM) def. Connor Masella (ECM) 6-2, 6-3