PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season in a 6-1 decision to Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon in a non-conference tilt at Alpha Tennis and Fitness of Pittsburgh. The Dukes fall to 3-1 while the Penguins improve to 7-5 on the year.
Jin Dassanayake provided the highlight on the day, giving the Dukes a 6-3, 6-2, win at the No. 5 singles flight over David Moreno. Dassanayake improves his singles record to 4-0, leading the team in victories.
"I was definitely happy with the way I played and helped the team today." said Dassanayake. "I was confident in my strokes, and my serve and slice backhand were extremely effective."
The Dukes started off slow in doubles, going down 2-0 and a break of serve, on all three courts. No. 2 doubles eventually fell 6-1, but No. 1 and No. 3 doubles were able to make a late comeback. Both courts got to 5-5, but they eventually fell 7-5, to conclude the tightly contested doubles point.
There were several other close matches in singles, but the Dukes were unable to provide any split sets. At the first flight,
Alex Mascioli fell 6-1 in the opening set, but he jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second, before falling 6-4.
Tamirlan Teberikov played two tight sets, but lost both in a 7-5, 6-4, battle.
Alejandro Rodriguez-Vidal and
Bode Vance fell by identical 6-4, 6-4 scores at the No. 2 and No. 6 flights, respectively, while
Kaipo Marshall was defeated 6-2, 6-3.
"Today was a tough day for us," said Duquesne Director of tennis
Vanessa Steiner. "I felt that we battled hard and showed our toughness to come back in several matches, but unfortunately we fell short. YSU just came out sharper and with more explosive shots. However, we excited for this week of practice and our next matches to work on the things we need to improve."
RESULTS
Singles
| 1. Vardakis, Vasilis (YSU) def. Mascioli, Alex (DUQ) 6-1, 6-4 |
| 2. Mandocescu,Laurentiu (YSU) def. Rodriguez-Vidal, A. (DUQ) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 3. Gran, Erik (YSU) def. Marshall, Kaipo (DUQ) 6-2, 6-3 |
| 4. Garretto, Joao (YSU) def. Teberikov, Tamirlan (DUQ) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 5. Dassanayake, Jin (DUQ) def. Moreno, David (YSU) 6-3, 6-2 |
6. Ibanez, Asier (YSU) def. Vance, Bode (DUQ) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
| 1. Vardakis, Vasilis/Gran, Erik (YSU) def. Rodriguez-Vidal, A./Teberikov, Tamirlan (DUQ) 7-5 |
| 2. Garretto, Joao/Moreno, David (YSU) def. Marshall, Kaipo/Mascioli, Alex (DUQ) 6-1 |
| 3. Mandocescu,Laurentiu/Ibanez, Asier (YSU) def. Vance, Bode/Dassanayake, Jin (DUQ) 7-5 |
|
Order of Completion
Doubles (2,1,3) Singles (3,1,5,2,4,6)
NEXT UP
The Dukes travel to Virginia to face off against Atlatnic 10 foes VCU (March 20
) and Richmond on March (21
).
