The #6 Keiser University men's tennis team took down SCAD 5-0 on Thursday, advancing to the Sun Conference Championship tomorrow morning against Warner. The Seahawks improved to 18-3 overall on the year.
The Seahawks started strong by sweeping all three doubles points. The #1 pairing of
Rafael Lenz and
Shaquille Taylor rolled to an 8-2 win and then the #3 tandem of
Nicolas Guerschanik and
Arthur Bonnaud won 8-5. The #2 team of
Ignacio Osse and
Guilherme Cunha battled back from an early deficit to prevail 9-8.
In singles, Taylor stretched the advantage to 4-0 with his 6-1, 6-0 win at #5 and then the undefeated freshmen Bonnaud ended the match with his 6-0, 6-3 victory. In tournament play, once a team clinches all the other matches are ended. Keiser was up a set in all the other matches when they were ended.
Head Coach
Daniel Finn said, "I am definitely proud of the boy's resiliency today. We actually started out pretty slow in doubles but did a great job of catching ourselves and controlling the tempo for the remainder of the matches. The first match of any tournament can be a little tough to start. The boys did a good job of taking care of business and were excited to be playing tomorrow with the chance of winning our first ever tournament championship in school history."
Keiser takes on second seeded Warner University at 9:00 a.m. In their previous match this season, the Seahawks came out on top 6-2 at home.
#6 Keiser 5, SCAD 0
Singles competition
1. #47
Nicolas Guerschanik (KUMTN16) vs. Sean Hajdu (SCAD) 6-1, 2-5, unfinished
2. #48
Martin Martins (KUMTN16) vs. Kenta Naka (SCAD) 7-6 (6-3), 1-0, unfinished
3. #50
Rafael Lenz (KUMTN16) vs. Yulin Liu (SCAD) 6-3, 2-5, unfinished
4.
Arthur Bonnaud (KUMTN16) def. Daiki Naka (SCAD) 6-0, 6-2
5.
Shaquille Taylor (KUMTN16) def. Quentin Staley (SCAD) 6-1, 6-0
6.
Ignacio Osse (KUMTN16) vs. Corrie Pickering (SCAD) 6-2, 4-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1.
Rafael Lenz/
Shaquille Taylor (KUMTN16) def. Sean Hajdu/Quentin Staley (SCAD) 8-2
2.
Ignacio Osse/
Guilherme Cunha (KUMTN16) def. Yulin Liu/Josh Tewes-McCoy (SCAD) 9-8 (7-5)
3.
Nicolas Guerschanik/
Arthur Bonnaud (KUMTN16) def. Kenta Naka/Corrie Pickering (SCAD) 8-5
Match Notes:
SCAD 4-11
Keiser 18-3; National ranking #6
