ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd men's tennis team fell to the No. 2 Saint Leo Lions 7-0 at the Fred Bullard Courts on Wednesday afternoon.
The Tritons (2-3) fell to the Lions (7-1) after dropping the doubles point and all six singles matches.
The Tritons' top pairing of Batu Ataseven and Christian Kearns won their doubles spot 6-4, after the point had already been decided with the Lions taking the two's and three's doubles matches, both 6-1.
Ataseven fought hard against the Lions top player, Martin Soukal, who was ranked 18th in the nation for Division II. Ataseven dropped the match in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Mario Kirkov also put up a good fight in the No. 2 position, bringing his two sets to tiebreak. Kirkov dropped set one 7-6 (7-4) and set two 7-6 (7-1).
Eckerd remains at home Thursday for a match against the Wartburg College Knights (Ohio) at 10:00 AM at the Fred Bullard Courts.
Singles competition
1. #18 Martin Soukal (SLUM) def. Batu Ataseven (ECM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Nicholas Bacella (SLUM) def. Mario Kirkov (ECM) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1)
3. Ghali Mensour (SLUM) def. Christian Kearns (ECM) 6-3, 6-1
4. Luis Iriarte (SLUM) def. Marshall Hulett (ECM) 6-3, 6-2
5. Eduardo Cohen (SLUM) def. Phil Grueninger (ECM) 6-1, 6-0
6. Jinsei Tajima (SLUM) def. Colbin Campbell (ECM) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Batu Ataseven/Christian Kearns (ECM) def. Martin Soukal/Luis Iriarte (SLUM) 6-4
2. Nicholas Bacella/Eduardo Cohen (SLUM) def. Marshall Hulett/Mario Kirkov (ECM) 6-1
3. Jinsei Tajima/Dylan Andrianaly (SLUM) def. Phil Grueninger/Eric Asakura (ECM) 6-1
