USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – North Dakota men's tennis forced three matches into valuable third sets to threaten a huge comeback on the road, but the rally would fall short as the Fighting Hawks dropped to Air Force, 5-2, in non-conference action on Sunday afternoon.
The loss moves UND to 13-9 overall while the Falcons improve to 9-11.
Doubles play started with a win for Air Force on the No. 3 court, 6-3, but the Fighting Hawks clawed back.
Christos Alex and
Darrshan Suresh Kumar hung on for a battled 7-5 win at the top spot while court No. 2 went into a tiebreak.
Justin Ilic and
Kotaro Matsumura built off an early lead to clinch the 7-6 (5) win and the 1-0 lead for North Dakota.
Despite the relentless showing for the visitors in doubles competition, the momentum flipped in favor of the home team once one-on-one play kicked off.
Air Force collected a quick 6-1, 6-0 win from the No. 6 position and added in a 6-2, 6-3 win from the third spot to go ahead 2-1. Suresh Kumar collected UND's lone singles victory of the day after he dominated for a mirror pair of 6-3, 6-3 wins to tie up the team score.
But the remaining three matches—which all went to three sets—would be claimed by the Falcons.
At the No. 4 position, Matsumura rallied back after a 2-6 first set loss to win the second at 6-4 and force a crucial third set. The back-and-forth battle came down to the wire but ended in a 6-4 Air Force win.
Leo Galliano stormed back from a dropped 1-6 first set for a gritty 7-5 second set victory, but his late rally would slip, 3-6, at the top court. The final match of the day came from the No. 5 spot, where Alex tacked on a controlling 6-3 second set win after a tight knit 7-6 (2) first set loss. But a reversed 3-6 third set loss would solidify the 5-2 Air Force win.
North Dakota men's tennis will conclude the conference regular season on the road as the Fighting Hawks take on Illinois State on Saturday, April 18.
For more information on North Dakota men's tennis, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmtennis.
