BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - It was a long Saturday that crept into Sunday morning for the Millersville men's tennis team. The challenging day of competition started with a narrow 4-3 road loss at Bloomsburg and closed with a non-conference defeat to Salem by the same score.
For Millersville, now 1-4 (1-1 PSAC), three of its losses have come by the narrowest of margins and a 4-3 score. Against Bloomsburg, the difference at doubles came down to a tiebreaker, and two of the singles matches went to three sets. Similarly, against Salem, one match was the difference, and Salem won the lone three-setter.
Bloomsburg's record improved to 1-2 (1-2 PSAC) while Salem boosted its mark to 4-1.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS (BLOOMSBURG 4, MILLERSVILLE 3)
•
Carlos Martinez-Lucas and
Frank Yanni started Millersville with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles, but Bloomsburg duos won the other two, including a 7-6 (7-4) decision in the No. 2 flight. With the doubles point secured, Bloomsburg managed to scrape out the victory by taking No. 4-No. 6 singles. The No. 5 spot featured a three-set match between Millersville's
Ting-Yu Yen and Scott Redmond which ended with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Victor Martinez also edged Millersville rookie
Zach Pernia thanks to a tiebreaker win in the second set, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4).
• The top of Millersville's singles lineup held its own with Martinez-Lucas winning 6-3, 6-2, Yanni bouncing back from a 6-2 loss in the first set to take the match with 6-4 wins in the second and third.
Santiago Ramos won his first set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-1) before polishing off a straight-sets victory, 6-4.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS (SALEM 4, MILLERSVILLE 3)
• Millersville made the trip from Bloomsburg to Landisville, Pa., for a night match at the Hempfield Sports Complex. Millersville grabbed the doubles point with wins from Martinez-Lucas and Yanni (7-6 (7-5)) and Ramos and Pernia (6-1). But the region's No. 7-ranked team, Salem, took four of the six singles matches. Martinez-Lucas scored a 6-2, 6-4 win in the No. 1 flight, and Pernia won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6. Ramos and Salem's Anas Haddou split the first two sets by a 6-3 score and then battled in an epic super tiebreaker that saw Haddou outlast Ramos by a 15-13 score.
NOTES
• The match vs. Salem was just the second meeting between the teams. The series is split at one win apiece.
• Martinez-Lucas and Pernia both improved to 4-1 in singles with Saturday's two wins. Martinez-Lucas and Yanni are also 4-1 in doubles.
UP NEXT
• Millersville is off until April 9 but faces a pivotal four-day stretch after that. The Marauders host the region's No. 5 and No. 4 teams, Mercyhurst and Edinboro, on back to-to-back days and then host Division I Villanova on April 13.
