A resilient Tribe (6-4) powered past No. 72 Elon 6-1 at the McCormack-Nagelson Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and helped the College bounce back from a loss there against East Tennessee State on Friday.
“That was the toughest 6-1 match I have ever been a part of,” Head Coach Peter Daub said. “It took four hours and 40 minutes to complete and each team really gave it their all.”
The Tribe began the day by taking two of three doubles matches. Junior Sebastien Vidal and freshman Jamie Whiteford improved to a perfect 5-0 on the year with an 8-4 triumph at the no. two position, while redshirt freshman Daniel Mihalov and sophomore Ilija Orre earned their second victory of the season.
In singles play, vocal leader and top player Keziel Juneau dropped a frustrating first set to Phillip Nemec, 5-7. But the Montreal-native battled back and eventually clinched the first singles victory of the afternoon.
“I knew I could beat [Nemec],” Juneau said. “He’s from Canada and I had played him before.”
Vidal, playing in the no. two spot, also dropped the initial set, but eventually settled in to take the next two sets 7-6 (2) and 6-4.
“I wasn’t playing great, but everything came slowly back,” Vidal said. “Sometimes wins aren’t perfect.”
Sophomore Ilija Orre fought a marathon battle in the no. 5 spot against Elon’s Carlos Arboledo. The match, which ran several hours, finally ended when Orre won consecutive games. Other singles wins were notched by freshmen Anton Andersson and Adrian Vodislav.
“All 12 players were warriors out there and gave all they had,” Daub said. “Both teams played at a high level, and we were fortunate enough to come out on top.”
On Friday, the Tribe was edged 5-4 by 60th ranked East Tennessee State. The doubles matches were tightly contested, but the Buccaneers outlasted the Tribe, taking two of the three, 9-8 and 8-6.
Juneau and Vidal each tallied victories in singles improving their records to 14-6 and 16-6, respectively. Vodislav also added a come-from-behind victory in the No. 6 spot, but it was not enough for the win.
The College hosts James Madison University at 10 a.m. this Saturday.
