The Newberry tennis teams fell to the Queens Royals in a match Feb. 12 at the Oakland Tennis Center.
NEWBERRY — The Newberry College tennis squads both took on Queens on Feb. 12, at the Oakland Tennis Center.
The women’s team (8-1, 0-1 SAC) fell in a tightly contested match by a final score of 3-4.
Doubles play proved to be hotly contested with every match close. However, Queens claimed each doubles match by identical scores of 6-4, taking the doubles point.
In singles play, reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week, Zulay Castaneda (Panama City, Panama) got the Wolves in the win column after earning a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles. Judit Gonzalez Agud (Barcelona, Spain) gave Newberry the lead by taking the No. 3 singles position in a hard-fought three-set battle by a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. However, the Royals responded by earning wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, including an intense three-set match against Lucy Spice (Maidstone, U.K.). Queens then took the No. 6 singles position by a score of 6-1, 6-1, securing the match overall. However, despite the match having already been clinched, Nastassia Chamoun (Rouen, France) was determined to keep fighting until the end as she channeled the support of her teammates to walk away with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles.
The men’s team (5-4, 0-1 SAC) also fell on Saturday, by a final score of 7-0.
In doubles, the duo of Lawrence Friedland (Cary, N.C.) and Marcel Schomburg (Bingen, Germany) fell at No. 1 doubles 1-6, and the pairing of Mateo Bivol (Bordeaux, France) and Enzo Blavignat (Bordeaux, France) fell by a score of 2-6 at the No. 2 position. However, at No. 3 doubles, Stratas Anastopoulo (Charleston) and Leo Zancheta (Assis, Brazil) were able to put up an impressive effort, forcing a tiebreaker, but they ultimately fell by the slimmest of margins, 6-7 (7-5).
The Wolves managed to put up a strong effort in singles play with Friedland forcing his match to be decided in a tiebreaker. Bivol pivoted to be quite the competitor against the Royals’ best singles hand at the No. 1 position.
However, it would not be enough as Queens claimed victories at every match as Newberry fell by a final score of 7-0.