LUBBOCK, Texas (April 9, 2023) – Lubbock Christian University men's tennis split a pair of Lone Star Conference duals in their final road trip of the regular season, winning in Arlington, Texas Friday at Dallas Baptist (6-1) before falling 5-2 to No.7 UT Tyler Saturday in Tyler, Texas.
at DBU
LCU had a convincing win Friday in Arlington, and it opened with LCU sweeping doubles play. No.1 doubles team of
Kelly Giese /
Braden Tipton, who are nationally ranked No.38, the No.2 doubles team of
Martins Abamu /
Herman Aguirre and the No.3 doubles team of
Alex Donnelly /
Matthijs Mallee contributed to the sweep of doubles victories to put LCU up 1-0 in the dual.
The Chaps clinched the dual at 4-0, as Tipton (No.5 singles), No.22 Abamu (No.1 singles) and Aguirre (No.3 singles) were the first three singles-match finishers to take the dual. Aguirre needed a 7-3 tiebreaker result to win his match in straight sets. Giese (No.2 singles) and
Sabri Laphitz (No.4 singles) were able to claim their singles matches in three-set victories. Each dropped the second set, but rebounded for the win.
at UTT
It wouldn't go as smooth Saturday in Tyler against the nationally ranked Patriots of UTT. The Patriots swept doubles play. LCU's No.1 doubles team of Giese / Tipton lost the tiebreaker 7-2 to fall 7-6 to No.13 nationally ranked Gonzalo Fernandez G. / Egor Shestakov.
UTT, with the 1-0 lead from the doubles point, won the first four singles matches completed for a 5-0 lead, which solidified the dual. Included in the results was the No.2 singles match, which had No.22 Abamu falling in the third set to No.6 Gonzalo Fernandez G. LCU won the final two singles matches. Tipton won No.6 singles in three sets, and the upset outcome was Giese in No.1 singles defeating No.13 Joaquin Bianchi in three sets.
In Summary
LCU moved to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in LSC duals. Giese had a big week, moving his win streak to four singles matches after a 2-0 week. He is 5-1 in LSC duals singles matches. Tipton also went 2-0 on the week and is 4-2 in LSC play. Giese and Tipton in doubles play are 14-6 together this season (overall) and are 5-1 in LSC duals LCU, finishing the regular season with a 3-3 road record, returns home to close out the regular season, hosting Arkansas Fort Smith Friday and Cameron Saturday.
