TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The FSU men’s tennis team got a break from ACC play on Friday and the Seminoles took advantage of their return to non-conference play.
Florida State faced Tennessee Tech in a doubleheader Friday and took both matches by scores of 4-3 and 6-1. The wins moved FSU to 5-5 on the season.
As has been the case so far in 2021, Loris Pourroy and Marcus Walters paced the Noles. Each won both their singles matches and as a doubles pair, they went 2-0 on the day as well. With four wins on Friday, Walters moved to 13-6 on the season while Pourroy is now 12-7 combined in singles and doubles.
“I thought we saw some important things in both matches,” said FSU Head Coach Dwayne Hultquist. “It was good to get the doubles point in both matches today and get the wins.”
Pourroy and Walters got the Seminoles to the verge of clinching with straight-set wins in the opener but the match came down to the final court where Alex Knaff continues to work his way back from early-season injuries. The 77th-ranked singles player clinched the win for FSU on one with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 win, his first of the season.
“The first match came down to Alex,” said Hultquist. “It was 3-3 and I thought he did a really good job of getting out of a service game down 15-40 and then winning three points. He then ran away with the third set. With Alex coming back from injury, I thought he held in there and did a good job today.”
While the first match of the day came down to the final point, the second wasn’t as close. After taking the doubles point, Andreja Petrovic, Pourroy and Sebastian Arcila each secured singles points to get the Noles to four. Walters and Richard Thongoana closed out the doubleheader with three-set wins to give FSU the 6-1 victory.
“I thought we played better in the second match,” said Hultquist. “I was really pleased to get a 6-1 win over a good Tennessee Tech team. We had solid performances from Loris and Andy to get off to a 3-0 lead. Then it was great to see Sebastian clinch the victory by pulling out the third set 6-4. Marcus and Rich rallied to win the last two.
“Our guys need matches and it was good for us to get a doubleheader in today. Now we look forward to getting back into ACC play with a road trip next week.”
The Seminoles will head to the Commonwealth for a pair of matches on March 8 and 9. FSU will start off with Virginia (8-2, 2-0) on Monday at 2:30 p.m. and then head to Blacksburg the next day to take on the Hokies (5-3, 1-1).
