Northern Colorado Bests Men's Tennis 4-3

GREELEY, Colo. -- The Creighton men's tennis team fell 4-3 against Northern Colorado on Saturday in Greeley, Colo.

The Bluejays dropped to 3-5 in duals during 2017, while the Bears won their fourth-straight to improve to 4-4.

Northern Colorado opened doubles play with a 6-0 win at No. 1, but Armando Gandini and Daniel Lopez-Rey tied doubles action with a 6-4 win at No. 3.

The Bears' No. 2 doubles pair clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 victory over Alex Koca and Mac Mease. The Koca/Mease loss was the pair's first this setback this season.

Northern Colorado controlled the match by taking three of the first four singles matches to seal the team win.

The Bears won at the No. 1, 2 and 3 slots to clinch the dual.

Brooks Kendall and Jake Glazer each notched three-set victories for the Bluejays. Kendall, at No. 4, lost the opening set 6-1 before winning 6-4, 6-2. Glazer also fell in the first frame at No. 5 before tying the match in the second and winning a tiebreaker 11-9.

Lopez-Rey notched a straight-sets victory for the Jays at No. 6 singles.

Saturday's result followed Creighton's 4-3 loss to Southern Utah on Friday.

"This was a disappointing weekend for us as we had two winnable matches and fell short," head coach Tom Lilly said. "So many big points throughout the weekend just didn't go our way. The altitude didn't help us at all and it is a tough place to play tennis. We need to work harder in practice and put some more pressure situations into our drills and we will continue to improve."

Creighton returns to the courts March 2 in Lincoln, Neb. against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Northern Colorado 4, Creighton 3
Feb 18, 2017 at Greeley, Colo.

Singles competition

1. Connor Finerty (UNC) def. Armando Gandini (CU) 6-1, 6-4

2. Kyle Pease (UNC) def. Harrison Lang (CU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

3. Alex Vakouftsis (UNC) def. Alex Koca (CU) 7-5, 6-4

4. Brooks Kendall (CU) def. Hayden Cramer (UNC) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2

5. Jake Glazer (CU) def. Agustin Lombardi (UNC) 4-6, 6-4, 11-9

6. Daniel Lopez-Rey (CU) def. Cassell King (UNC) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Hayden Cramer/Alex Vakouftsis (UNC) def. Brooks Kendall/Harrison Lang (CU) 6-0

2. Cassell King/Kyle Pease (UNC) def. Alex Koca/Mac Mease (CU) 7-5

3. Armando Gandini/Daniel Lopez-Rey (CU) def. Connor Finerty/Agustin Lombardi (UNC) 6-4

Match Notes

Creighton 3-5

Northern Colorado 4-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,3,4,2,6,5)

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Players Mentioned

Armando Gandini

Jake Glazer

Brooks Kendall

Alex Koca

Harrison Lang

Daniel Lopez-Rey

Mac Mease