The Seattle U Men's Tennis team played two matches Friday, losing 5-2 at Portland State and losing 7-0 at #69 Oregon.
The Redhawks' best performance of the day came against Portland State, where they took the doubles point for just the second time this season. All three Seattle U doubles teams saw victory against the Vikings, with Mark Shkrebtan (Redmond, Wash.) and Simon Meske (Tacoma, Wash.) leading the way at number one doubles. The duo earned their second doubles victory of the year by dismissing Mitch Somach and Alex Marx of PSU 8-6.
Tom Plunkett (Seattle, Wash.) and Flavio Malagutti (Rio Claro, Brazil) won at the third doubles position, beating Zach Lubek and Nick Fracchia 8-5, while Kevin Lynch (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Jason Bediones (Kent, Wash) finished the SU doubles sweep with an exciting 9-8(7-5) match win over Roman Margoulis and Abhinav Mishra.
Yusuke Kanehira (Tokyo, Japan) grabbed the other point for Seattle University, defeating the Vikings' Lubek in the fifth singles position. Kanehira took the first set 6-4, but then dropped the second 1-6. He came back tough in the third and deciding set, however, and defeated Lubek 6-1 for his second singles victory of the season.
Seattle U had many other opportunities to grab points in the singles contests. Three matches, including Kanehira's, and Shkrebtan forced a tiebreak in his first set of his number one singles contest against Margoulis before falling 7-6(7-5), 6-3.
The deciding match came from the second singles position, where Lynch and the Vikings' Mishra played a well-fought match. Lynch took the first set 3-6, but lost the next two sets 6-4, 6-4 to give Portland State the deciding fourth point of the dual match.
The Redhawks started the day in Eugene, Ore., where they took on 69th-ranked Oregon at the Student Tennis Center. Despite a 7-0 loss, the Redhawks played some close matches took three sets in the singles competition.
Malagutti hung tough at the number four singles slot, swapping 6-4 set victories in the first two sets with Sho Higuchi of Oregon. The match went into a tiebreak for a third set, which Higuchi won 10-3.
One other Seattle U player to claim a set victory over the Ducks was Kyle Rapp (Encinitas, Calif.). Rapp, playing in number six singles, won the second set of his match with Sam Bush before falling by a score of 6-1, 3-6, 10-2.
Seattle U lost the doubles point, but played two close matches against Oregon. Lynch and Bediones lost 8-6 at number two doubles, while Shkrebtan and Meske fell 8-5 at number one doubles.
The Redhawks have one day of rest before taking the court for two more matches Sunday, Feb. 19. They take on Pacific (Ore.) at 1:15 p.m. at Amy Yee Tennis Center in Seattle, Wash., and take on Puget Sound at 6:00 p.m. at the Tennis Pavilion in Tacoma, Wash.
Oregon 7, Seattle University 0
Doubles
1. Rovello/Cambier (ORE) def. Shkrebtan/Meske (SEA) 8-5
2. Sardu, Daniel/Clissold, Aaron (ORE) def. Lynch/Bediones (SEA) 8-6
3. Higuchi/Mayeda (ORE) def. Rapp/Malagutti (SEA) 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #122 Alex Rovello (ORE) def. Mark Shkrebtan (SEA) 6-0, 6-0
2. Robin Cambier (ORE) def. Kevin Lynch (SEA) 6-2, 6-2
3. Jose Izquierdo (ORE) def. Simon Meske (SEA) 6-0, 2-6, 10-6
4. Sho Higuchi (ORE) def. Flavio Malagutti (SEA) 6-4, 4-6, 10-3
5. Douglas Mayeda (ORE) def. Jason Bediones (SEA) 6-0, 6-2
6. Sam Bush (ORE) def. Kyle Rapp (SEA) 6-1, 3-6, 10-2
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 2, 3
Portland State 5, Seattle University 2
Doubles
1. Shkrebtan/Meske (SEA) def. Somach/Marx (PSU) 8-6
2. Lynch/Bediones (SEA) def. Margoulis/Mishra (PSU) 9-8(7-5)
3. Plunkett/Malagutti (SEA) def. Lubek/Fracchia (PSU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Roman Margoulis (PSU) def. Mark Shkrebtan (SEA) 7-6(7-5), 6-3
2. Abhinav Mishra (PSU) def. Kevin Lynch (SEA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Mitch Somach (PSU) def. Simon Meske (SEA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
4. Alec Marx (PSU) def. Flavio Malagutti (SEA) 7-5, 6-1
5. Yusuke Kanehira (SEA) def. Zach Lubek (PSU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
6. Nick Fracchia (PSU) def. Kyle Rapp (SEA) 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 2, 6