CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University men's tennis team opened its 2015 spring schedule with a match against Chattanooga, Saturday, at the Hixson Racquet Club. Despite dropping the doubles point, the Governors were able to rally, winning four of six singles matches to claim an exciting 4-3 victory. With the win the Govs improve to 1-0 on the season while the Mocs fall to 0-3.
In doubles action the No. 1 duo of seniors Dimitar Ristovski and Iago Seffrin dropped a 6-4 match to the team of John Peacy and Lucas Plesky while the No. 3 pairing of junior Evan Borowski and sophomore Manuel Montenegro fell to the team of Gino Delavalle and Nic Wilson 6-4, giving the doubles point to the Mocs.
In singles play, the Govs started off quickly when sophomore James Mitchell claimed a victory in the No. 6 slot when his opponent had to retire due to injury. The momentum continued rolling in the Govs direction when Ristovski claimed a 6-0, 7-5 victory against Pavels Grigorjevs at the No. 1 position and sophomore Aaron Jumonville earned a 6-4, 6-4 win against Plesky at the No. 3 slot, giving Austin Peay a 3-2 lead.
After the Mocs rallied to even up the match 3-3, senior Aleksas Tverijonas clinched the match for the Govs when he earned a hard fought 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory at the No. 2 position. After the match, head coach Ross Brown was excited about the mental strength of his squad.
"A lot of good things happened today," said Brown. "Aaron performed extremely well at the No. 3 position, and Aleksas clinched the match for us. I would like for our performance in doubles to improve, but I was very impressed by the mental toughness of this team. We handled the adversity that was thrown at us and that is the way we are going to win matches this spring."
The Governors will open up their home schedule 3 p.m., Jan. 29, when they host Abilene Christian at the Austin Peay Tennis Center.
Singles
No. 1 – Dimitar Ristovski (APSU) def. Pavels Grigorjevs (Chattanooga) 6-0, 7-5
No. 2 – Aleksas Tverijonas (APSU) def. Nick Wingord (Chattanooga) 7-5, 7-6 (4)
No. 3 – Aaron Jumonville (APSU) def. Lucas Plesky (Chattanooga) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – Luke Saunders (Chattanooga) def. Iago Seffrin (APSU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 – Gino Delavalle (Chattanooga) def. Manuel Montenegro (APSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 – James Mitchell (APSU) def. John Peacey (Chattanooga) 6-3, 2-1 ret
Doubles
No. 1 –Peacey/ Plesky (Chattanooga) def. Ristovski/ Seffrin (APSU) 6-4
No. 2 –Saunders/Wingord (Chattanooga) def. Tverijonas/Jumonville (APSU) 6-1
No. 3 –Delavalie/Nic Wilson (Chattanooga) def. Evan Borowski/ Montenegro (APSU) 6-4
