DURANT, Okla. – For the second-straight match, Southeastern found itself in a dogfight and once again saw the bottom of the lineup come up huge to help the Savage Storm pick up a 5-4 win over Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday afternoon at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
The win lifts SE to 6-3 overall on the season and puts them in the midst of a three-game winning streak heading into a three-game regional road trip in which the Storm will face Missouri Western State, Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney from March 1-3.
The 5-4 win against the Bison comes on the heels of another comeback win against Arkansas-Fort Smith on Feb. 22.
This time SE jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles, taking advantage of wins by Tiago Ferreria and
Filip Pavlovic at No. 2 and
Laercio Lobo and
Billy Haugen at No. 3. Ferreria and Pavlovic won 8-6, while Lobo and Haugen won 8-2.
Luka Radulovic and Martin Bedcarratz nearly gave the Storm a sweep in doubles, but fell at the No. 1 spot 9-8.
The woes continued for the top doubles duo in singles play, with Radulovic falling 7-6, 6-1 at No. 1 in singles, while Bedcarratz came out on the short end of a brutal 7-5, 7-6 loss at No. 3.
When those were joined by a Pavlovic loss at No. 2, Southeastern found itself in a 4-2 hole.
Lobo, however, responded with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4 to kick off the rally and Ferreria knotted the match at 4-4 with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 5.
Haugen would then complete the SE comeback with a dramatic 7-6, 7-5 win at No. 6 to seal the team victory in the final match.
