Wednesday, February 14
Bethlehem, Pa.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
3
vs
4
FDU
Photo by: Clark Boinis
Lehigh Falls 4-3 To FDU In Set Three Tiebreak
2/14/2024 10:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh men's tennis returned to action on Wednesday night from the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center, welcoming the FDU Knights to Bethlehem. The two teams fought all the way to a tiebreak in the final match, but the Knights prevailed over the Mountain Hawks 4-3.
The Mountain Hawks cruised to an opening doubles point, clinching all three matches in under 33 minutes. Jordan Paul and Sean Jaeger got things started for Lehigh at number three, earning a swift 6-0 result to move the pair's doubles record to 3-1. Matt Kleiman and Marc Blekhman followed suit with a 6-3 win at number one just in time for Aristotelis Bezianis and Jackson Morash to earn the point with a 6-1 win at number two.
After Lehigh earned the meet's first point, FDU responded with a 6-1, 6-1 victory for Arjun Sriram over Blekhman at number two. Shortly after, the Mountain Hawks regained the lead courtesy of a 6-3, 6-1 win for Bezianis at number three. Jaeger's match at number four finished shortly after, resulting in a hard fought 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 win for the Mountain Hawks.
Leading 3-1 in the match, the Mountain Hawks needed only one more win to clinch the team win. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't find it at number six, where first-year Benedict Horn-Bourque fell 6-2, 6-3 in his first collegiate action. A few minutes later, Kleiman would drop a heartbreaking 5-7, 6-2, 5-7 loss at number one, setting up Morash's match at number five the deciding contest.
FDU's Tauras Mickus won the first set 6-2, but Morash stormed back in the second 6-1 to force a third and final set. After falling down 3-0 in the final set, Morash won the next three games to tie the set at an even 3-3. He and Mickaus exchanged several games until the set was tied 6-6, leading to a tiebreak. However, Mickaus prevailed 7-3 in the tiebreak to clinch the dual meet victory for FDU.
The Mountain Hawks return to the court on Saturday, February 17 at home against Hofstra. Matches will begin at 11 a.m. at the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center.
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Singles
Joshua Oboniye (FDU) def. Matt Kleiman (Lehigh) 7-5, 2-6, 7-5
Arjun Sriram (FDU) def. Marc Blekhman (Lehigh) 6-1, 6-1
Aristotelis Bezianis (Lehigh) def. Thomas Linley (FDU) 6-3, 6-1
Sean Jaeger (Lehigh) def. Gryffin Minor (FDU) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4
Tauras Mickus (FDU) def. Jackson Morash (Lehigh) 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3)
Asaf Schwartz (FDU) def. Benedict Horn-Bourque (Lehigh) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
Kleiman/Blekhman (Lehigh) def. Linley/Minor (FDU) 6-3
Bezianis/Morash (Lehigh) def. Schwartz/Oboniye (FDU) 6-1
Paul/Jaeger (Lehigh) def. Nicolae/Neira (FDU) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2), Singles (2, 3, 4, 6, 1, 5)
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The Mountain Hawks cruised to an opening doubles point, clinching all three matches in under 33 minutes. Jordan Paul and Sean Jaeger got things started for Lehigh at number three, earning a swift 6-0 result to move the pair's doubles record to 3-1. Matt Kleiman and Marc Blekhman followed suit with a 6-3 win at number one just in time for Aristotelis Bezianis and Jackson Morash to earn the point with a 6-1 win at number two.
After Lehigh earned the meet's first point, FDU responded with a 6-1, 6-1 victory for Arjun Sriram over Blekhman at number two. Shortly after, the Mountain Hawks regained the lead courtesy of a 6-3, 6-1 win for Bezianis at number three. Jaeger's match at number four finished shortly after, resulting in a hard fought 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 win for the Mountain Hawks.
Leading 3-1 in the match, the Mountain Hawks needed only one more win to clinch the team win. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't find it at number six, where first-year Benedict Horn-Bourque fell 6-2, 6-3 in his first collegiate action. A few minutes later, Kleiman would drop a heartbreaking 5-7, 6-2, 5-7 loss at number one, setting up Morash's match at number five the deciding contest.
FDU's Tauras Mickus won the first set 6-2, but Morash stormed back in the second 6-1 to force a third and final set. After falling down 3-0 in the final set, Morash won the next three games to tie the set at an even 3-3. He and Mickaus exchanged several games until the set was tied 6-6, leading to a tiebreak. However, Mickaus prevailed 7-3 in the tiebreak to clinch the dual meet victory for FDU.
The Mountain Hawks return to the court on Saturday, February 17 at home against Hofstra. Matches will begin at 11 a.m. at the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center.
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Singles
Joshua Oboniye (FDU) def. Matt Kleiman (Lehigh) 7-5, 2-6, 7-5
Arjun Sriram (FDU) def. Marc Blekhman (Lehigh) 6-1, 6-1
Aristotelis Bezianis (Lehigh) def. Thomas Linley (FDU) 6-3, 6-1
Sean Jaeger (Lehigh) def. Gryffin Minor (FDU) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4
Tauras Mickus (FDU) def. Jackson Morash (Lehigh) 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3)
Asaf Schwartz (FDU) def. Benedict Horn-Bourque (Lehigh) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
Kleiman/Blekhman (Lehigh) def. Linley/Minor (FDU) 6-3
Bezianis/Morash (Lehigh) def. Schwartz/Oboniye (FDU) 6-1
Paul/Jaeger (Lehigh) def. Nicolae/Neira (FDU) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2), Singles (2, 3, 4, 6, 1, 5)
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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