CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Piedmont men’s tennis put forth a valiant effort but came up short in a 4-2 CCS Tournament Final loss to top-seeded Asbury on Saturday morning in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The Lions saw the doubles point go Asbury’s way, decided by a tiebreak and were unable to recover the momentum in singles, dropping three of the first five matches to finish.
After a dominant 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles on Friday in the semifinals, Mark Backeberg and Rohan Kavali continued their impressive play, rolling to a 6-3 win to put the first match on Piedmont’s side.
However, the Eagles knotted things up shortly after with a 6-2 win at No. 2. That left it all up to No. 1 doubles to determine the first point of the match. Yannick Wassmer Navarro and Simon Johnstone battled to send it to a breaker. Unfortunately, Asbury was undeterred, rallying back in the tiebreak to win 7-6 (5) and take a 1-0 lead heading to singles.
Charles Parnell added to his impressive CCS Tournament resume, coming back in the first set and then taking over the match at No. 2 for a 6-3, 6-1 victory to make it 1-1. Asbury once again responded, as Ignacio Ardiles cruised in the second set, winning 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4. Minutes later, the Eagles were on the brink of the clinch, with Ben Moore’s 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3.
The Lions added another point with Wassmer Navarro’s impressive 6-1, 6-3 victory at the top spot.
With the Eagles up in both matches at No. 5 and No. 6, Andres Caceres delivered the championship-clinching win, outlasting Rohan Kavali 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5.
This marks the third consecutive season in which the Lions have fallen in the CCS Tournament Final.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
– Both Yannick Wassmer Navarro and Charles Parnell earned CCS All-Tournament Team honors after each picked up another singles win on Saturday.
