Lions Tennis Upsets No. 34 Bearcats

Courtesy University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Athletics Department

After suffering through a five-match losing streak, the UAFS men’s tennis team’s luck appears to be changing.

The Lions snapped their losing streak on Thursday against perennial NAIA power Oklahoma Baptist and on Monday upset No. 34-ranked Southwest Baptist University 5-4 in a neutral site match in Bentonville, Ark.

UAFS (4-7) set the tone for its biggest win of the spring season by winning two of the three doubles matches. The tandem of Jorge Salazar and Chris Ramirez edged Kristof Kinal and Omar El Kheshan 9-7 in the No. 1 doubles match, and the duo of Matt Tabler and Clay Sandefur beat Alex Belote and Guido Margiotta 8-4 in the No. 3 doubles match.

The Lions had to rely on their lower seeds to complete the win in singles play. Tabler beat Daniel Cardona 6-4, 6-3 in No. 4 singles, Sandefur beat Belote 7-5, 6-4 in No. 5 singles and Caleb Gunsch beat Margiotta 6-1, 6-2 in No. 6 singles.

The loss snapped a two-match winning streak by the Bearcats (3-3), who were coming off an 8-1 win against Colorado State University-Pueblo.

UAFS fell behind 2-1 after doubles play in the women’s match and never recovered, losing to undefeated Southwest Baptist 7-2. Southwest Baptist (5-0) was coming off an 8-1 win against Dallas Baptist on Feb. 16.

The Lady Lions’ lone doubles win came at No. 2 doubles with Masa Podunavac and Whitney Hobson beating Adrienn Kovacs and Faiga Schmidt 8-4. UAFS picked up its lone singles win at No. 5 singles, where Abby Thompson beat Faiga Schmidt 6-2, 6-3.

MEN

UAFS 5, NO. 34 SOUTHWEST BAPTIST 4

At Bentonville, Ark.

Monday

Doubles

Jorge Salazar/Chris Ramirez, UAFS, def. Kristof Kinal/Omar El Kheshen, SWB, 9-7

Domingos Carissimo/Daniel Cardona, SWB, def. Sean Manning/Pedro Carvalho, UAFS, 8-3

Matt Tabler/Clay Sandefur, UAFS, def. Alex Belote/Guido Margiotta, SWB, 8-4

Singles

Carissimo, SWB, def. Manning, UAFS, 6-2, 6-2

Kinal, SWB, def. Ramirez, UAFS, 6-2, 6-2

El Kheshen, SWB, def. Salazar, UAFS, 6-1, 6-2

Tabler, UAFS, def. Cardona, SWB, 6-4, 6-3

Sandefur, UAFS, def. Belote, SWB, 7-5, 6-4

Caleb Gunsch, UAFS, def. Margiotta, SWB, 6-1, 6-2

WOMEN

SOUTHWEST BAPTIST 7, UAFS 2

At Bentonville, Ark.

Monday

Doubles

Fanni Varga/Christina Zentai, SWB, def. Madison Carr/Abby Thompson, UAFS, 8-4

Masa Podunavac/Whitney Hobson, UAFS, def. Adrienn Kovacs/Faiga Schmidt, SWB, 8-4

Mehak Singh/Andjela Panovski, SWB, def. Amy Belanger/Allie Wilson, UAFS, 9-7

Singles

Varga, SWB, def. Podunavac, UAFS, 6-3, 6-3

Singh, SWB, def. Belanger, UAFS, 6-1, 6-3

Zentai, SWB, def. Carr, UAFS, 6-0, 6-2

Kovacs, SWB, def. Hobson, UAFS, 5-7, 6-0, 11-6

Thompson, UAFS, def. Schmidt, SWB, 6-2, 6-3

Panovski, SWB, def. Wilson, UAFS, 6-0, 6-1