MILLERSVILLE, Penn. – Just under 24 hours after their last match concluded at the University of the District of Columbia, Post University Men's Tennis was back in action against Millersville University in search of their first win of the season. But similar to a day ago, the Eagles would fall 6-1 in the team score while taking one double and one single in the process against the Marauders.
THE BASICS
Post University 1, Millersville University 6
Post University (0-4)
Millersville University (4-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Eagles would nearly be able to steal the doubles point after junior Dante Despontin and sophomore Tobias Strauss teamed up for the 6-2 win over freshmen Victor Suarez and Breno Maciel in the #3 Doubles. While junior Anton Andersson and senior Niklas Langenfeld were dispatched of in the #1 Doubles, 6-4, by seniors Dylan Tull and Zach Pernia, the #2 Doubles would be a dogfight.
Graduate student Gustavo Kerber and sophomore Josh Cronje would go to a tiebreaker against juniors Lino Morin and Jasper de Koning before falling short, 7-6, after losing the tiebreaker point by a score of 7-1.
A similar setup would unfold in the singles with Post taking one of them in the form of the #3 Singles with Despontin beating Maciel, 7-6 in the first set on tiebreaker, and then 6-2 in set two. However, the other five singles would go the way of the Marauders as Pernia made quick work of Andersson in the #2 Singles, 7-5 and 6-2, followed by Morin over Cronje in the #4 Singles, 6-2 and 6-3.
The #6 Singles also went in favor of Millersville with Suarez defeating Strauss, 6-3 and 6-2, to clinch the team victory for the Marauders who had four team points. Despontin would win the lone point for the Eagles in the #3 Singles with a 7-6 tiebreaker win and 6-1 set two win over Maciel.
Two matches would go to decisive third sets with Kerber and Tull going head-to-head in the #1 Singles which ended in a 6-3 win for Tull after both sides split the first two sets by scores of 6-2. Freshman Valentine Ebner got the last win of the day for Millersville against Langenfeld in the #5 Singles with back-to-back 6-3 set wins after dropping set one, 6-1.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Winning the #3 Doubles with Dante Despontin marked the first doubles win of the season for Tobias Strauss and the third in his career at Post
- Dating back to last season, the Eagles are 1-8 in their last nine matches and have lost four straight
- With Dante Despontin's singles win today, five Post players are still in search of their first Singles win of the season
- This was only the second all-time matchup between both programs, marking the first time Post University has lost to Millersville University after beating them 5-2 back in 2019
WHO'S NEXT
Post University prepares for their first of five home matches this season which is slated for Wednesday, March 20th against Adelphi University at the Edgewood Bath and Tennis Club in Middlebury, Connecticut. The Eagles are 1-2 all-time against the Panthers having been swept in their first two matchups back in the early 2010s, 9-0, before winning the previous matchup last season, 4-3, on the road.
