CLAREMONT, Calif. --- George Fox men's tennis took a tough 5-4 loss on neutral courts against No. 6 Johns Hopkins on Thursday, Mar. 24, but were still able to challenge the Blue Jays while playing shorthanded.
How It Happened
Fox grabbed one of the three doubles matches after Camden Camacho and Vahag Pashayan were able to defeat their court three opponents, 8-6, to spare the Bruins a sweep in doubles.
With Luke Lemaitre and Rox Rogers unavailable to play singles, Fox was forced to shift its lineup by two spots and still fought their way to within one singles matchup of a team victory.
Will Leach won on court one, 6-3, 6-2, to help the Bruins' cause. Playing all the way up at court two after being slotted in at four initially, Luis Rojas was able to take a few games off of JHU's no. 2 in a 6-2, 6-1 loss.
Pashayan played up at court three after initially being slated at five for Fox and fought hard in a 6-2, 6-4 loss against the Blue Jays' no. 3 singles player. Camacho won a few games in a 6-1, 6-3 defeat while playing from six to no. 4 in the lineup.
Two days removed from his late-match heroics against No. 17 Redlands, Ryan Olson jumped onto the fifth court and battled from behind to win 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-7) against the Blue Jays' no. 5 player. Alle Banna also played up at court six and snagged a 6-3, 6-3 win for Fox to notch the 5-4 final.
Coach's Thoughts
"Today was all about the energy and bringing it mentally," coach Jeff Cero said of his scambled lineup. "I was really proud of Alle and Ryan for their incredible effort in singles, and Cam & Vahag showing themselves to be such a difficult doubles team to compete against. We almost pulled it out, but I was really proud of the effort from top to bottom in singles."
What It Means
The Bruins took their second NCAA DIII loss in as many days but showed that they roll more than just six deep in singles, and their young depth was able to flash its potential against a top 10 team in NCAA DIII.
Up Next
The Bruins' Spring Break slate continues to remaining challenging as they prepare for No. 22 Caltech and No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday and Saturday.
