TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia Tech men's tennis team battled No. 31 Florida State as the match was tied at 3 before the Seminoles were able to hold on in a third set tiebreaker to secure the team win 4-3.
Florida State took the early lead with the doubles point, but the Hokies got off to a strong start in singles as Brandon Perez got Tech on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Sebastian Arcila on court five.
Henrik Korsgaard pushed Tech to the 2-1 lead, claiming the 7-5, 6-4 win against Alex Knaff at the two. Alex Ribeiro put Tech on top 3-1 after defeating Juan Martin Jalif 7-6(5), 6-4 on court three.
The Seminoles got the win on court six in straight sets, but the two teams battled it out to three sets on courts one and four.
On court one, Tech's No. 66 Jason Kros squared off against No. 39 Lucas Poullain with the Hokie senior winning the first match 6-3. Poullain came back to win the second 6-2, but the two kept it close in the third and were tied at 5 before the FSU player scored the final two points to win it 7-5 and tie the match at 3.
The deciding match came down to court four with Carlo Donato winning the first set 6-4 over Enzo Le Seguillon, but the 'Noles player responded to win it 6-1. In the final set, the two were knotted at 6 to force the tiebreaker. The breaker went back and forth, but Seguillon held on for the 7-6(7) win.
Virginia Tech will be back on the court next weekend at Louisville for a 2:30 p.m. match on Friday, April 12.
Singles
1. #39 Lucas Poullain (FSU) def. #66 Jason Kros (VT) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
2. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) def. Alex Knaff (FSU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Alex Ribeiro (VT) def. Juan Martin Jalif (FSU) 7-6(5), 6-4
4. Enzo Le Seguillon (FSU) def. Carlo Donato (VT) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7)
5. Brandon Perez (VT) def. Sebastian Arcila (FSU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Chase Wood (FSU) def. Evan Fragistas (VT) 6-4, 7-6(7)
Order of finish: 5,2,3,6,1,4
Doubles
1. Knaff/Arcila (FSU) def. Korsgaard/Ryan Kros (VT) 6-1
2. Poullain/Bryn Nahrung (FSU) def. Perez/J. Kros (VT) 7-5
3. Wood/Jalif (FSU) vs. Freddy Mesmer/Donato (VT) 5-5 dnf
Order of finish: 1,2