Mobile, AL – The UC men's tennis team concluded the 2023-24 season in the NAIA First Round, falling to No. 19 seed Grace 4-1 on Tuesday.
The Lancers opened the day strong, taking two of the three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 advantage.
Liam Savio and
Gabriele Solda captured the lone doubles win for the Pats, defeating Luis Cordoba and Cesar Garcia 6-2 at the #3 spot.
Martin Muller and Hung-Ju Wu battled at the #1 spot, but ultimately fell 7-5.
Lucas Augotr put the Patriots on the board with a dominant singles win in straight sets to even the score at one. The sophomore defeated Cesar Garcia 6-1, 6-0 at the #6 spot.
Grace earned wins at the #1 and #3 spots to jump out to a 3-1 advantage, needing only one win to capture the overall victory.
Pierluigi Cruypenninck started strong at #5 singles, taking the first set 6-4. Cruypenninck would drop the next one 7-6 to force a winner-take-all third set. The senior battled, but ultimately fell to Manuel Marques 7-5, securing the overall 4-1 victory for the Lancers.
UC closes the season with an overall record of 17-7. The Pats captured the program's second consecutive Mid-South Conference regular season championship and fifth consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearance. The Patriots had three athletes receive All-Conference honors and Head Coach
Chin Tan was named MSC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
