TAT: Hogs Defeat Panthers, Fall to No. 1 Cavaliers

This article originally appeared in the January 28, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

The Arkansas men’s tennis team went 1-1 Friday and Saturday at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Charlottesville, Va. They defeated No. 62 Georgia State 4-2 before falling to No. 1 Virginia 6-1.

After dropping the doubles point, the Razorbacks won four of the five singles matches to move to the second round of the ITA Indoor Team Championship.

“I was very proud of our guys and how they rebounded after doubles,” head coach Robert Cox said. “All six of our guys came out in singles with the winning mindset and got the job done.”

Sophomore Jovan Parlic defeated Georgia State senior Lucas Santa Ana with back-to-back 7-6, 7-6 sets to clinch the victory for Arkansas.

Before the match was called, senior Gregoire Lehmann was tied 5-5 in the deciding third set with Georgia State senior Victor Valente, the No. 55 singles player in the country. He lost the first set 4-6, but came back with a 6-4 victory in the second set.

Arkansas lost the doubles point by dropping two of the three doubles matches. Lehmann and fellow senior Mike Ward picked up the lone doubles victory.

The next day, the Razorbacks faced No. 1 Virginia in the second round. The Cavaliers dominated No. 55 Arkansas, winning 6-1.

In doubles play, Arkansas continued to struggle. Virginia won two of the three matches and was leading the third when it was stopped, led by three duos ranked in the top 10 in the country, to pick up the doubles point.

They then won five of the six doubles matches.

Arkansas’ lone point of the day came when junior Mike Nott defeated Virginia senior Julen Uriguen. Nott dropped the first set 1-6, then won the next two sets 6-4, 6-4 to pick up the win.

“The highlight of the day was Mike’s great three-setter,” Cox said. “He played a quality opponent and came out with a huge win.”

Despite the loss, Cox is pleased with his team’s performance against very tough competition. As well as the three top-10 duos, Virginia also had the No. 2, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 55 singles players in the country.

“We will come away from this with a lot of lessons learned and will become a better team,” Cox said. “We now have to look to the future and focus our energy on getting better every day and prepare for UAB.”

Arkansas returns home to face No. 75 UAB Wednesday.