Men's tennis program drops competitive 5-2 decisions to Cedarville, Thomas More
The men's tennis program at Shawnee State got high-level play from essentially everybody in the lineup over the weekend in matches against NCAA Division II opponents Cedarville and Thomas More, falling in competitive 5-2 tilts to both tennis programs Saturday in separate matches that were held in Dayton, Ohio and Crestview Hills, Ky.
Highlights -- Cedarville
In every match, Shawnee State was competitive against Cedarville -- and, in fact, put a major scare into the Yellowjackets.
- Right off of the rip, Shawnee State claimed impressive victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles -- as the doubles units of Abubakar Yakabu Lea and Zayden Rinehart (No. 1) and Ishamael Dowuona and Ivan Wularu (No. 2) obtained 7-5 and 6-4 victories over Cedarville's Abraham Hougland and Nathan Brumbaugh and Penn Morrison and Nathan Hollis, giving Shawnee State the doubles point in the match and an early 1-0 match advantage.
- Yakabu Lea added in another victory at No. 1 singles, claiming a 6-4, 6-0 win over Hollis.
- While Shawnee State dropped the remaining singles affairs against Cedarville, many were competitive:
- Dowuona won seven games at No. 2 singles, ultimately dropping a highly competitive No. 2 singles match to Brumbaugh (6-3, 6-4)
- Wularu took Morrison to the brink at No. 3 singles, winning the opening set 7-5 before dropping the final pair of sets in scant fashion (6-4, 6-2).
- Rinehart, along with Daniel Cristobal and Keenen Lambert, posted competitive outings at the remaining singles slots, with Rinehart dropping a 6-3 decision to Roberto Esquivel in the opening set at No. 4 singles, Cristobal taking Hougland to a 7-5 margin at No. 5 singles and Keenan Lambert adding in a competitive 7-5 set of his own in a scant loss to Cedarville's Jake Durham.
- In the exhibition matches, Shawnee State continued its competitive play, with Aiden White dropping a tightly contested 6-3 decision to Xavier Gee and Barry King in doubles play. Adam Stanley also dropped a tight 6-4 decision to Ryan Mecurio to cap off competition in singles action.
Highlights -- Thomas More
- In doubles play, the No. 3 doubles pairing of Cristobal and Lambert put up a competitive 6-4 effort against Sergio San Pablo and Caleb Pritchett.
- The Bears really stepped up matters in singles play:
- Yakubu Lea notched a thrilling victory, winning his No. 1 singles match over San Pablo in a fantastic 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7) thriller.
- Dow also added in a thrilling win of his own, grabbing a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 10-6 triumph at No. 2 singles over Thomas More's Samuel Mimbrero Lendinez to give SSU a 2-1 lead in the match.
- While SSU dropped the remaining singles matches, Wularu fell in a competitive 6-3, 6-3 decision to the Saints' Jackson Poulas at No. 3 singles, while Cristobal, after falling 6-1 in the opening set, fell by a scant 7-6 margin to Sebastian Guevara in the second set at No. 5 singles.
- The exhibition matches featured competitive showings as Lambert fell by a 6-3, 6-3 margin to Thomas More's Eliott Burer.
Additional
Shawnee State will be back in action with four men's tennis matches against various programs from Missouri in St. Louis, Mo. over Spring Break. Those matches will all commence from Feb. 25 through Feb. 28. A full lineup of matches can be found at https://www.ssubears.com/sports/wten/2023-24/schedule.
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