ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd men's tennis team dropped an SSC match against No. 3 Saint Leo, 7-0, on senior day Wednesday afternoon at the Bullard Courts.
The Lions (15-3, 3-2 SSC) beat the Tritons (4-10, 0-7 SSC) after earning the doubles point and winning all six singles matches.
The Lions won all three draws in doubles action. The duo of Pierre-Olivier Lassalle and Prakrut Patel won two games in the No. 1 slot against third-ranked Bruno Faletto and Willem Van Den Akker but ultimately fell 6-2. Christian Kearns and Arthur de Souza Fonseca won four games out of the No. 2 position but lost, 6-4.
No. 30 Lassalle was bested by No. 5 Faletto in a thrilling third-set tiebreaker in No. 1 singles, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (7-9), 10-8. Patel won nine games in No. 2 singles before falling, 7-5 and 6-4.
Fonseca dropped the No. 3 singles match but won four games, 6-1 and 6-3. Eric Asakura won two games, 6-2, in the first set of the No. 4 draw and improved in the second set, 6-4, but was defeated by SLU's Luis Iriarte.
The Tritons are on the road for the regular-season finale at Ave Maria (Fla.) on Thursday at 3:00 PM.
Singles competition
1. #5 Bruno Faletto (SLM) def. #30 Pierre Lassalle (ECM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (7-9), 10-8
2. #52 Nicolas Bacella (SLM) def. Prakrut Patel (ECM) 7-5, 6-4
3. Ghali Mensour (SLM) def. Arthur Fonseca (ECM) 6-1, 6-3
4. Luis Iriarte (SLM) def. Eric Asakura (ECM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Brad Eidenmuller (SLM) def. Christian Kearns (ECM) 6-0, 6-3
6. Willem Van Den Akker (SLM) def. Arik Suez (ECM) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #3 Bruno Faletto/Willem Van Den Akker (SLM) def. Pierre Lassalle/Prakrut Patel (ECM) 6-2
2. Brad Eidenmuller/Ghali Mensour (SLM) def. Christian Kearns/Arthur Fonseca (ECM) 6-4
3. Nicolas Bacella/Luis Iriarte (SLM) def. Eric Asakura/Arik Suez (ECM) 6-0
