OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha men's tennis team dropped a non-conference match to UMKC on Saturday afternoon at Miracle Hill Tennis Center, 7-0. The Mavericks are 3-4 overall, while the Kangaroos are 3-0 this season.
“UMKC is a very good team,” said head coach Tyson Thomas. “They have a lot of experienced upperclassmen that are playing some pretty good tennis this year.”
UMKC got out of the gates quickly as they swept the doubles play to take a 1-0 lead. Freshmen Alex Woodward and Matt Dunn played a close match at No. 2 doubles against Uldis Gaismins and Andrey Smitnov, but fell 6-4. Erik Anderson and John Ellis lost a 6-3 decision to Amaury Navette and Marc Santamaria at No. 3 doubles.
“I saw some better things from the guys in doubles today,” commented Thomas. “We still have some work to do there.”
Omaha could not gain any ground in singles action as UMKC swept all six matches. Marko Minic played a spirited match against Mike Psarros at No. 4 singles, but fell 6-3, 6-3. Anderson played a strong match at No. 5 singles before falling 6-3, 6-3. After dropping the first set, Alex Woodward made a strong push in the second set but came up short at No. 3 singles 6-1, 7-5.
At No. 2 singles, Dunn played a resilient match against Gaismins. Gaismins won the first set 6-3, but Dunn rebounded to win the second set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (3). To decide the set, Dunn and Gaismins played a 10-point tiebreaker. Gaismins came out with the win 10-6.
Coach Thomas pointed out the growth of a pair of freshmen players in singles action. “Alex Woodward and Matt Dunn again found themselves finishing off the match with very tight second sets. I think Alex did a great job staying in the fight and making some strategical changes to eventually push the second set to 7-5. Matt continued his late match dramatics by winning the second set in a tie breaker, but ultimately falling in a 10-point breaker.”
“We are building to achieve some of our goals later this year and I'm happy with the progress I am seeing,” said Thomas.
The Mavericks hit the road to play two matches over the Valentine's Day weekend. Omaha plays in DeKalb, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 12 against Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. The next day, UNO will play Cleveland State at 9 a.m.
UMKC 7, Omaha Mavericks 0 (Feb 06, 2016 at Omaha, Neb.)
Singles competition
1. Airam Castellano (UMKC) def. Colin Buckley (OMAHA) 6-1, 6-2
2. Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) def. Matt Dunn (OMAHA) 6-3, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (6)
3. Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) def. Alex Woodward (OMAHA) 6-1, 7-5
4. Mike Psarros (UMKC) def. Marko Minic (OMAHA) 6-3, 6-3
5. Amaury Navette (UMKC) def. Erik Anderson (OMAHA) 6-3, 6-3
6. Marc Santamaria (UMKC) def. Ignace Warson (OMAHA) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Airam Castellano/Mike Psarros (UMKC) def. Colin Buckley/Ignace Warson (OMAHA) 6-2
2. Uldis Gaismins/Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) def. Alex Woodward/Matt Dunn (OMAHA) 6-4
3. Amaury Navette/Marc Santamaria (UMKC) def. Erik Anderson/John Ellis (OMAHA) 6-3
Match Notes
UMKC 3-0
Omaha Mavericks 3-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,6,4,5)
