ORLANDO -- After a wild day of tennis on Wednesday, North Dakota returned to the courts on Thursday and dropped a 4-2 decision to Southern Miss from Orlando.
UND (8-6) battled against one of the favorites in the CUSA, but fell just short in a pair of three-set matches on the top courts.
The Fighting Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the doubles courts, with
Gerhard Sullwald and
Nikita Snezhko rolling to a 6-2 win at the top court before
Riley Odell and
Dylan Leeman followed with a 6-4 victory on the No. 2 court to claim the early advantage.
USM rallied back with two triumphs at the third and fourth positions to take a 2-1 lead, but UND evened the score at 2-2 when Snezhko held on for a three-set victory on the No. 5 court. The senior notched a 7-5 win in the first set, but a 6-3 defeat in the second pushed the match to a tiebreaker. There, the Iowa transfer rolled to a 6-0 score and the overall win.
The Golden Eagles responded with two three-set wins of their own on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts to claim the 4-2 match victory.
North Dakota returns to action on Friday afternoon against St. Thomas Aquinas at 2:30 to conclude its week in Orlando.
