SALEM, Va. – After dropping the doubles point, Maryville came back to win the match against Roanoke 4-3 thanks to singles wins from
James Smith,
Luka Romano,
Jonathan Crane, and
Gabriel Villalonga Serra.
At the #1 position, Smith secured his second victory of the season at the spot, taking down Roanoke's Ramirez 6-4, 6-2. It is his tenth victory of his career at that spot.
The freshman Romano impressed at the #3 spot, defeating Julio Marques 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) for his first singles victory as a Scot. He was paired with Smith in doubles and the duo earned MC their only victory in doubles, defeating the duo of Ian Michel and Emiliano Ramirez 6-1.
Coach Corbett was impressed with his team's resilience,
"After the early deficit, I really like the way we responded and battled in the singles," Corbett said. "The mindset was pretty strong overall, so I could tell there was a realistic chance to get back in the match. Luka had an incredible comeback down 5-0 in the 2nd set. That is a perfect example of the never-giving attitude that we want to build on."
Crane earned his third victory of the year at the #4 spot, defeating the Maroon's Ian Michel 6-2, 6-4. It is his fourth victory of his career at that position.
Villalonga Serra picked up the winning point for the Scots after going down in the first set 4-6, coming back to win the next two 6-4, 1-0 (10-5). The sophomore now owns four victories at the #5 spot for his career with 4-2 record.
Corbett continued,
"Being up 3-2 going into the final 2 matches was a big-time boost. In those types of situations, it allows you to lean on your teammates and not have it all totally on you. Biel (Villalonga Serra) had an awesome clinch at 3-3 what a moment! He has made a big jump since last year thanks to his growing confidence.
"This was a great day for Scot tennis."
Maryville caps off their road trip tomorrow morning against Southern Virginia. The Knights come into the match 0-1 on the year, having lost to Hampden-Sydney on Wednesday 7-0.
Maryville improves to 3-0 on the season with this victory.
