Men's Tennis completes Texas road trip with win over Austin

BOX SCORE Tyler, TX. -- The Millsaps tennis team completed their Texas road trip on Sunday with a win over the Austin College Kangaroos. The win moved the Majors to 2-1 on the trip and 5-2 on the season. After a long match and tough loss the previous day against nationally ranked UT Tyler, the Majors responded well with a 6-3 win. The doubles would prove to be the key to the match.

Cooper Cearley and Cameron Doles started off hot and dominated in the #3 doubles position with an 8-2 win over Meendsen and Granberry. Quickly following the win at #3 was the two doubles team of Brandon Beck and Diego Marti Vertiz. They also won in convincing fashion, 8-3. This assured the Majors of having the lead going into doubles, but another win at #1 doubles would help make things easier. Alejandro Centurion and Davis Plummer held off a furious comeback by Hardy and Kortikere to secure the third point, 8-6.

It is difficult for a team to come back from a 3-0 deficit, but the Roos were up to the challenge and it would take some well-played singles for the Majors to earn the victory. At #1, Marti Vertiz took a commanding 1^st set by the score of 6-2. He followed it up in the second, 6-1, to move the Majors one point from victory. With Marti Vertiz being the first off the court, all other matches would take much longer to finish. With Centurion in a decisive third set and Plummer in a tie break for the second, Henry Friedler was able to calm everyone's nerves by winning an extremely long two set match, 6-3, 7-6(11). In the tie break his opponent held off several match points and at the same time Friedler kept the match from splitting sets. On his third match point, Friedler hit a heavy, top spin ball to his opponent's backhand creating the error in the net. This win clinched the victory for the Majors while four other matches continued to be competitive. With hard fought losses at #2 by Centurion, at #4 by Plummer, and by Josh Shearin at #6, Avinash Ananth would earn the final point of the day. His 6-1, 5-7, 10-5 win in the #5 position was vintage Ananth tennis. There were several lead changes and long rallies throughout the 10 point tie break as the junior won the match on his first match point with a forehand cross court winner.

The road trip was a successful one for the team as they return home on Friday for a match against regional opponent, Covenant College. Match time is 11:00 AM at the Montgomery Tennis Courts.

Recruits, fans and students can also follow all of the Majors Tennis updates on Twitter @MillsapsTennis and Instagram at millsaps_tennis.

Follow the Major Men's and Women's Tennis teams and the rest of Millsaps athletics on Facebook at Millsaps Major Athletics, Twitter @MajorAtheltics, and Instagram @GoMajors. Show your support for your favorite team by using the hashtags GoMajors and MajorPlay.

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Players Mentioned

Avinash Ananth: 6' 1"; Junior

Cooper Cearley: 6' 5"; Sophomore

Cameron Doles: 5' 8"; Junior

Davis Plummer: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Josh Shearin: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Brandon Beck: 5' 9"; Freshman

Henry Friedler: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Avinash Ananth
: 6' 1"; Junior

Cooper Cearley
: 6' 5"; Sophomore

Cameron Doles
: 5' 8"; Junior

Davis Plummer
: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Josh Shearin
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Brandon Beck
: 5' 9"; Freshman

Henry Friedler
: 5' 11"; Sophomore