Lee tennis sweeps visiting Tusculum University
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Lee University’s tennis teams recorded a pair of shutout wins over Tusculum University Sunday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Lady Flames won 5-0, while the Flames were 4-0 victors. Both Lee teams improved to 3-0, while the Tusculum women fell to 0-2 and the men 1-2.
Maria Penalver Aguilo and Kanna Kobayakawa beat Katie Bradley and Valeria Diaz 6-1 to begin the doubles competition for the Lady Flames. Mirjana Ragastovac and Victoria Maximiliano took down Samira Butt and Thilda Danielsson 6-1 at No. 3 doubles to secure the doubles point. Ashleigh Simes and Aliyah Dwyer completed the doubles sweep with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles.
Penalver Aguilo opened singles competition with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ylva Frafjord Landa at No. 2 singles. Simes, ranked No. 2, fell behind early with a 7-3 tiebreaker loss in the first set to Elodie Baechler. Simes fought back to win the next two sets by matching 6-3 margins to put the Lady Flames up 3-0.
Ragastovac used a 7-1 tiebreaker score to win her first set against Danielsson 7-6. Mirjana won the second set 6-3 to win the match and secure the team’s victory. Dwyer was a 6-2, 6-0 winner against Butt at No. 4 singles.
Kanna and Maximiliano each led their singles matches 3-0 in the first set when the team competition was decided. Their battles with Diaz and Luisa Gerke, respectively, were left unfinished.
Quinn Groenendijk and Jip Langerhuizen opened the men’s doubles competition with a 6-1 defeat of Rens Verhaar and Will Gee. Wihan van der Merwe and Rytis Razminas outlasted Nathan Matsuguma and Angelos Avgeris 7-5 to secure the doubles point. Filipe Krohn and Jackson Vaughan held off Anton Krondell and Nathan West 7-5 to complete the doubles sweep.
Krohn took down Matsuguma 6-4 and 6-1 at No. 3 singles to put the Flames up 2-0. Groenendijk extended Lee’s lead with a 7-5, 6-1 win against Verhaar at No. 2 singles. The Flames clinched the team victory after van der Merwe beat Krondell 6-1 in their first set and van der Merwe posted an 8-6 tiebreaker margin to win the second set 7-6.
Langerhuizen and Miles Ray were tied 1-1 in the first set when the team competition was decided. Their match was left unfinished. The last two singles matches were not played.
The Lady Flames and Flames are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday against Carson-Newman University. The non-conference matches are set for a 10 a.m. start at the DeVos Tennis Center.
