The men’s tennis team secured a substantial 8-1 victory against Cal Lutheran University on Saturday, its second consecutive Division III win. The slugs lost only one singles match in the meet.
The mid-season win brings men’s tennis to an overall record of 3-3, with all three of its losses being to Division I and II teams, such as University of Southern California and University of Nevada, Reno. Men’s tennis is slated to next play Division II opponents Point Loma Nazarene after a two-week reprieve from competition.
Junior A.J. Flora also extended a jaw-dropping win streak: he has yet to lose a single game against both Division III opponent this season, winning all of his matches 6-0.
The day began with three doubles matches, all of which went to the Slugs; Chad Stone and Ryan Dugan edged out at 8-6, while the pairings of Sean Hollister/Chad Le Duff and Derek Levchenko/A.J. Flora each secured more commanding wins at 8-3 and 8-1, respectively. Those wins provided momentum that carried over to a strong performance in the singles. Aside from the loss given up by team captain Chad Stone, Cal Lutheran was only able to win more than three games in a match once.
Stone attributed the team’s strong performance within its division to the team’s relentless drive and year-round practice regimen, saying that some of his teammates made a point of being on the court five to six days a week.
“Everyone stepped up and everyone did their part,” Stone said. “We all played with a lot of fight and a lot of heart, so we came out on top pretty convincingly.”
