GOSHEN, Ind. - Men's and women's tennis kicked off their fall season with a home bout against the Bulldogs of Ferris State. In their first matchup this year against a Division II opponent, the Leafs fell 5-2 on the men's side, and lost 4-3 for the women.
Women - Goshen 3, Ferris State 4
To start off the day, the women lost the doubles point 2-1, with Uliana Dotsenko and Marin Kawano grabbing the victory 6-4 in #2 doubles. However, their victory was not enough as Blanka Bodo and Maria Clara Fonte fell 6-3 in the #1 spot, with Sara Nino and Elena Oborocea falling 6-0 as well.
In singles, the Leafs nearly managed to pull themselves back to a victory, as Oborocea won the #3 spot 6-3, 7-6, Fonte won at #4 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, and Kawano came out on top in #5 singles 6-2, 6-1. Bodo and Dotsenko put up a tough fight, but eventually Dotsenko lost the #1 spot 6-1, 6-1 and Bodo lost 6-2, 6-4. In the end, it all came down to the match between Nino and Elliot Nolan of Ferris State. Though Nino fought to the absolute end, she just couldn't quite break through, as Nolan came out on top 5-7, 6-0, 7-5.
Men - Goshen 2, Ferris State 5
Similar to the women, the men started off the day losing the double point 2-1, though they came very close with Denis Stanculov and Maks Suprun going into a tiebreak for the final point. In the end, Garrett Stoltzfus and Iago Ciucio took the #1 doubles win 6-4, Timo Novak and Emre Gumeric fell 6-3 in the #3 spot, and Stanculov and Suprun fell 7-6.
In singles, things seemed to start off well for the Leafs with Ciucio winning the first set at #1 and Novak winning his first set at #2. However, after a tough battle, Ciucio eventually fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Novak's match lasted nearly three hours before his opponent was forced to retire, giving him the victory. In the #3 spot, Suprun fell 0-6, 4-6, and in #4 Stolzfus fell 6-4, 6-1. GC picked up their other point from Stanculov in the #5 spot as he took the win 6-1, 3-6, 1-0. Finally, Joaquin Luque lost out in #6 singles 2-6, 5-7.
The Maple Leafs are back in action Sep. 23-25 as they cohost the ITA regional tournament with Holy Cross.
