Asbury (Ky.) advances in NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship first round
Asbury (Ky.) advances in NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship first round
By Asbury Sports Information (AsburyEagles.com)
MOBILE, Ala. - The feeling was all-too-familiar for the Asbury (Ky.) University men's tennis team heading into Tuesday's NAIA National Championship first-round match. The Eagles completed their run through the River States Conference schedule, hovered in the receiving votes aread of the NAIA Top 25 for the entire season, and when it was all said and done, they drew the College of Coastal Georgia in the opening round of the national tournament.
For members of the last Eagles team to travel to NAIA nationals,, i.e Deuce Gibson and the Abrahams, the memory wasn't their most fond one. The Eagles dropped last year's match against Coastal Georgia 5-4, narrowly being edged in a contest that could have made history for Asbury tennis.
Tuesday, though, the story played out a little differently and went the Eagles' way by a score of 6-3, propelling the Eagles into the second round for for the first time in school history.
Similarly to 2015 the Eagles captured wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and dropped their third doubles match to take a 2-1 lead into the singles portion of the match. Matching 8-3 wins from the duos of Ty Abraham and Joshua Abraham and Joshua Turnquest and Julian Tellez highlighted doubles play.
In singles play, the Eagles got wins from River States Conference Player and Newcomer of the Year Turnquest with a 7-6, 6-3 win as well as at No. 2 from Josh Abraham 6-3, 6-3.
Coastal Georgia took both the matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles as the Eagles searched for their final point on the score sheet to capture the win. To be sure, history wouldn't repeat itself as both Deuce Gibson and Aquille Trotman sealed the deal with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, for the Eagles win. Trotman fought off a resilient Bautista Chiaradia in the first set 7-5 and responded with an emphatic 6-2 win in the second. Gibson captured wins of 6-3, 6-4 for his singles win.
AU advances on to the second round set for Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST against fourth-ranked University of Northwestern Ohio. The Racers are 21-1 on the season with their only loss coming to No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett earlier this season.