Men's Tennis | 4/25/2015 3:04:00 PM
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Despite jumping out to a 2-1 lead after doubles, Southeastern was unable to hold off a rally by Ouachita Baptist in the Great American Conference Tournament Championship Match, falling 5-3 on Saturday in Bentonville, Ark.
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The loss drops the Savage Storm to 18-4 overall on the year.
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Maxim Fil and
Tiago Ferreira cruised to an 8-3 win at one doubles, but OBU would answer with a win at number two to even the match at 1-1.
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Petar Popovic and
Paul Nguyen responded and rallied from a 7-6 deficit to win the third doubles matchup 9-7 and open up a 2-1 lead for the Storm heading into singles play.
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Joaquin Aguillera was the first to finish off his opponent, winning the number six singles match 6-2, 7-6 (4), but the Tigers would keep pace with a win at number five singles.
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SE would see the match even at 3-3 with a loss at two singles, and with GAC Player of the Year Fil coming out on the wrong end of a 7-6 tiebreaker-decided first set at number one, he would drop the second set 6-2 and the Storm would find itself trailing 4-3.
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Jack Gibbens rallied from a 6-2 loss in his first set to pick up a 7-6 win in the second set thanks to a closely contested tiebreaker, but was unable to close it out int he final set, falling 6-1 for OBU to pick up the fifth and clinching point.