BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The Ave Maria Men's Tennis team advanced on to the Sun Conference Semifinals Wednesday afternoon with a 4-2 win over host Coastal Georgia. Both Anderson Duggan and Gianmarco Punzo got decisive wins in their respective third sets to clinch the match for the Gyrenes.
Ave Maria took the early lead in the match by snatching the doubles point. The Gyrenes got wins in the first and third pairings while Coastal Georgia took the second pairing. Duggan and Joao Felipe Almedia won 6-4 in the top pairing while and Juan Garcia and Pedro Garcia won 6-3 in the third pairing.
In the singles round, the Mariners got wins in the second and sixth positions, but the Gyrenes won three pairings to win the match.
Pedro Garcia was the first to win for the Gyrenes in the second position. Garcia won in two straight sets 6-2, 6-1. It is his seventh win of the season which is the second-most on the team.
Duggan was the next to win for the Gyrenes, winning the top pairing in three sets. Duggan won the first frame 6-0 but then dropped the second set 1-6. Knotted up at one, Duggan dominated in the third set to win 6-1 and take the pairing. With the win, Duggan avenges his loss to Leonardo Ciriaci, the top player for the Mariners, from the regular season meeting between the two teams.
Up 3-2 in the match, the Gyrenes need just one more win to move onto the semifinals and they got that from Punzo in the fourth position. Just like Duggan, Punzo won the first and dropped the second frame, but these sets were much closer. Punzo needed an extra game in the first set to win 7-5 and fell in the second 6-4. The third set was when the freshman took over and dominated with a 6-1 win to clinch the match.
"The guys had a great win today," said head coach Barrett Elkins. "We had injuries and were down a couple of guys, but our team believed in themselves and played for each other out there. They played with such heart and deserved this win today against a team that beat them in the regular season."
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 8-7 on the year and advances to the Sun Conference Semifinal. Awaiting them is the top seeded Keiser Seahawks who finished the regular season ranked third in the country. The match is Thursday, April 24, with the doubles round set to start at 2:30 p.m.
