OMAHA -- The University of North Dakota men's tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision to second-seeded Drake on Friday evening in the Summit League Tennis Championships semifinal round from Omaha, Neb.
"It's always tough to see the season come to an end," said UND head coach
Tom Boysen. "The suddenness hits hard."
The defeat ends a historic season for the Fighting Hawks, closing the 2022 campaign with 12 victories. Those wins are the most in the program's history during the Division I era and marked the first time that UND has reached the postseason in back-to-back seasons during that same timeframe.
"While we believe that we made some good strides this season and had some very good wins, at the same time we know that we have work to do, and we are anxious to get started on that work," said Boysen. "We have a great team coming back next year, and adding
Kotaro Mochizuki and Jayho Hong to the mix will certainly help. The entire team seems committed to working hard this summer, and we will hit the ground running next fall."
Drake jumped out to a 1-0 lead with wins on the No. 2 and 3 courts in doubles action.
Gerhard Sullwald and
Nikita Snezhko held a 5-4 advantage at the top position was play was halted and moved to singles.
After the Bulldogs extended their advantage to 2-0,
Dylan Leeman got the green and white on the scoreboard on the No. 6 court with a 6-3, 6-3 victory to cap a strong freshman season. The rookie seemed to spark some momentum for the Fighting Hawks, as Sullwald and
Riley Odell both won their second sets to force a tiebreaker, but a third singles triumph for Drake at the third spot clinched the match victory.
