ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - Playing in their season opener, the Eckerd men's tennis team fell to No. 11 Florida Southern, 5-2, at the Bullard Courts Friday afternoon.
Eckerd (0-1, 0-1 SSC) got off to an impressive start taking the doubles point from the Mocs.
Pierre-Olivier Lassalle and Prakrut Patel made quick work of Tim Becker and Brandon Pham at No. 1 doubles, 6-2, while Alejandro Vucanovic and Christian Kearns took a tight, 7-5, victory out of the No. 3 draw, giving EC an early lead.
Lassalle also won in No. 1 singles, outlasting FSC's Erik Nordblom in a three-set thriller. Nordblom took the first set 6-4 before Lassalle evened the match with a 6-4 second set victory. Lassalle took the tight third-set tiebreaker, 10-7, for the lone singles win for EC.
Making his collegiate debut, Edoardo Ruggiano nearly gave the Tritons another point in the No. 5 singles slot, narrowly falling 6-4 in both sets.
The Tritons doubles point was the first time Eckerd took the doubles victory from the Mocs since at least 2006 (records before 2007 are incomplete).
Eckerd has over a week off before its next match on March 14 at Embry-Riddle.
Florida Southern 5, Eckerd 2
Singles competition
1. PIERRE LASSALLE (ECM) def. ERIK NORDBLOM (FSCM) 4-6, 6-4, 10-7
2. BRANDON PHAM (FSCM) def. PRAKRUT PATEL (ECM) 6-2, 6-3
3. VALENTIN HERTWECK (FSCM) def. SAM WALKER (ECM) 6-0, 6-2
4. TIM BECKER (FSCM) def. CHRISTIAN KEARNS (ECM) 6-0, 6-0
5. CHASE MARTIN (FSCM) def. EDOARDO RUGGIANO (ECM) 6-4, 6-4
6. OSCAR SOHL (FSCM) def. ALEJANDRO VUCANOVIC (ECM) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. PIERRE LASSALLE/PRAKRUT PATEL (ECM) def. TIM BECKER/BRANDON PHAM (FSCM) 6-2
2. BRIAN PHAM/PABLO SALAMANCA (FSCM) def. SAM WALKER/EDOARDO RUGGIANO (ECM) 6-0
3. ALEJANDRO VUCANOVIC/CHRISTIAN KEARNS (ECM) def. DANNY THOMAS/CHRIS FOK KOW (FSCM) 7-5
