Men's tennis completes comeback against Dartmouth

Thursday, March 22

Memphis, Tenn.

Noon

University of Memphis

#28 Dartmouth

Mar 22, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Tigers turn in seventh straight win

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Despite an early deficit, the No. 22/21 Memphis men's tennis team rallied for another ranked win as the Tigers defeated No. 28 Dartmouth on Thursday afternoon at the Racquet Club of Memphis.

Memphis (12-4, 2-0) dropped the opening doubles point, but the Tigers turned in four singles wins from Kai Lemke, Jan Pallares, Andrew Watson and Ryan Peniston to complete the comeback victory and push the team's win streak to seven matches.

"Today was a really tough match. Dartmouth has been having a tremendous season," associate head coach Chris Doerr said. "We lost the doubles point, but I thought we showed the toughness that we have been showing all year. Andrew, Ryan, Kai and Jan getting it done with Felix (Rauch) and Chris (Patzanovsky) fighting hard. We're very happy with the win."

Dartmouth (14-4, 0-0) struck first in doubles with a win on court 3. Peniston and Watson answered at the top spot with a ranked win, but the Big Green gained early momentum with a court 2 victory.

In singles, Lemke began the comeback with a win at the No. 3 position. The reigning American Athletic Conference player of the week swept the opening set then capped the match with a 6-2 win in set two.

Dartmouth scratched out its first singles win on court 5, but Pallares answered right back with a victory on court 6. The sophomore swung the momentum to even the match with a 6-4, 6-2 straight-set win and captured his fifth straight singles victory.

The Big Green's final point of the day came on court 4, when Dartmouth reclaimed its lead at 3-2.

The Tigers found one final rally when Watson tied the match once more with a straight-set win on court 2 for his eighth straight win. Quickly after, Peniston held serve and closed out a 7-5, 6-4 win at the top spot to clinch his seventh match of the season for the Tigers.

Memphis will close the weekend on the road for a match at LSU on Sunday. First serve from Baton Rouge is set for noon.

RESULTS

Singles
1. #36 Peniston (MEM) def. Broom (DART) 7-5, 6-4
2. #91 Watson (MEM) def. Martin (DART) 7-5, 6-3
3. Lemke (MEM) def. Horneffer (DART) 6-0, 6-2
4. Fliegner (DART) def. Rauch (MEM) 6-3, 6-2
5. Riccardi (DART) def. Patzanovsky (MEM) 6-3, 6-0
6. Pallares (MEM) def. Conklin (DART) 6-4, 6-2
(Order of finish: 3, 5, 6, 4, 2, 1)

Doubles
1. #37 Peniston/Watson (MEM) def. #49 Broom/Horneffer (DART) 6-2
2. Glasnovic/Ross (DART) def. Lemke/Sullivan (MEM) 6-4
3. Conklin/Fliegner (DART) def. Pallares/Story (MEM) 6-3
(Order of finish: 3, 1, 2)