KNOXVILLE, Tn- The Royals Men's tennis team defeated cross-town rival Maryville College by a final score of 7-2. After taking a 2-1 lead in doubles, the Royals came out on top in 5 of the 6 singles matches to secure the victory against the Scots.
The Royals got the ball rolling in doubles with a pair of strong results at the 1 and the 3 position. At the top spot, the freshmen pair of Ignacio Gamarra and Elijah Vento pulled away from their opponents after the fourth game to secure the win 8-2. At the 3 spot, it was Jacob Keeling and Mason Wrisley who paired to earn the victory 8-3.
Leading 2-1 going into singles, the Royals would gain their third and fourth points of the day on the top court as Ignacio Gamarra would dispatch his opponent 6-1, 6-1 and on court 3 as Kaden Buchanan was victorious 6-2, 6-2. The clinching point would be much more of a challenge as freshman Elijah Vento ended up splitting sets with his opponent, taking the first set 6-2 but falling in the 2nd set 5-7. In the deciding 10 point tiebreak, Vento found himself with his back against the wall down 2-7. He would battle back, find his game, and after ripping a clean winner at 9-all and then an ace at 11-all, Vento would finally claim the match 13-11. The final two points scored by the Royals would be victories by Jacob Keeling at the 5 spot winning 6-4, 7-5 and Noah Brown at the 4 spot 6-3, 7-6. Maryville would claim the final point by a score of 6-3, 7-6 despite a valiant effort by Gerett Benjamin.
Overall, Coach Hale was most impressed with the fight and composure of his team today in a tough matchup. "We really played well under pressure on every court, often stepping up and being the better player in the biggest moments. Maryville had four new freshmen guys who played really well and a couple of returning vets who just fought for everything, but we stepped up when we needed to. We have tried to instill a gritty and resilient culture here and it showed today, just really proud of how we handled business."
The Royals will compete in their final home match on Saturday October 15 against Brescia University.
