GOSHEN, Ind. — Juan Miguel Ciudad won a third-set super tiebreak for Goshen's lone point of the match as the Maple Leaf men's tennis team dropped an 8-1 decision to Cornerstone University on Friday afternoon at the Goshen College Tennis Complex.
Ciudad started off his singles match with a win, the only Goshen player to do so, taking a 6-3 lead before falling behind 6-1 in the second stanza and claiming the tiebreaker 12 points to 10. That third set went to a super tiebreak because the Golden Eagles (3-0) had prevailed in straight sets at all five other spots.
Despite the lopsided final result, Goshen (4-7, 3-4 Crossroads League) won at least four games in half of the 12 full sets of singles play, losing five sets by the single score of 6-4, representing one break of serve. At no. 1 singles and no. 6 singles respectively, Aritha Weerasinghe and Evan Beck each dropped both of their sets by that score. Kartikeya Sharma was only a game off of that mark in a 6-4, 6-3 loss at no. 3.
On the other hand, Sharma and Eric Zuercher were the only Goshen duo to win as many as five games in doubles play, which consists of single pro sets to eight games. That pairing lost 8-5 in the no. 1 spot playing against Austin Hendrick, Sharma's singles opponent, and Sam Ottosen, whom Ciudad edged out in singles.
Goshen concludes its regular season at Taylor on Saturday at 11 a.m. Thanks to a bye in the final round of conference play, the Maple Leafs will have more than a week off after that match before beginning the Crossroads League tournament on October 4: the opponent and site for that playoff match have not yet been determined.
Cornerstone 8, Goshen 1
1S. Marc Lerch (CU) def. Aritha Weerasinghe 6-4, 6-4
2S. Francisco Fernandez (CU) def. Eric Zuercher 6-1, 6-2
3S. Austin Hendrick (CU) def. Kartikeya Sharma 6-4, 6-3
4S. Juan Miguel Ciudad (GC) def. Sam Ottosen 6-3, 1-6, (12-10)
5S. Sam Riley (CU) def. Eric Cender 6-0, 6-2
6S. Dan Ribbink (CU) def. Evan Beck 6-4, 6-4
1D. Hendrick/Ottosen (CU) def. Sharma/Zuercher 8-5
2D. Lerch/Fernandez (CU) def. Weerasinghe/Luke Rush 8-2
3S. Riley/Ribbink (CU) def. Ciudad/Cender 8-1
