The Bucs men’s tennis team faced off against UNC-Wilmington this past weekend looking to build on their two-match win streak.
The day started out promising in the singles competition for the Bucs. Sergi Fontcuberta (Barcelona, Spain) in the No. 2 spot won both his sets with a score of 6-3 and 6-4.
The No. 6 singles spot was played by Tasei Miyamoto (Chiba, Japan) who won both sets. In the first set he won 6-3 and in the second set he won 6-2.
Juan Lugo (Maracay, Venezuela) played in the No. 1 spot and lost the first set 1-6, but responded in the second set winning 6-1. In the final set, Lugo lost 4-6
For the Bucs in the No. 4 spot David Gonzalez (Barcelona, Spain) lost in three sets. He started off strong winning the first set 7-5. However, he dropped the next two sets 1-6 and 2-6.
Like Gonzalez, Miguel Este (Caracas, Venezuela) started off right, winning his first set before ultimately dropping the next two sets in the No. 5 spot.
“There are a lot of new guys that still need to play,” said Head Coach Stiegwardt. “Our seniors and juniors have done a really good job of being consistent, the younger guys are still working to get to that point.”
Frazier Rengifo, a freshman from Cali, Colombia, played the final match of singles at the No. 3 spot, but unfortunately with the score tied at three UNC-Wilmington was able to pull out the win. Despite the Bucs winning two of the three doubles matches, UNC-Wilmington won on the day defeating the Bucs 4-3.
“The good thing [is] I think we are playing our best tennis right now, which is where you want to be going into April,” said Stiegwardt.
The Bucs will now start their homestand beginning March 29th.
“I think the season is going well, we are 8-6 and 3-0 in the conference,” said Stiegwardt. “Considering we lost our No. 1 and No. 2 players, we are playing well.”
