Box Score (PDF)
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's tennis team had a chance to earn a big A-10 victory over visiting Richmond but could not quite get over the hump, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Spiders (8-8, 4-1 A-10) on Thursday at the Mason Tennis Complex.
Mason and Richmond played to a 3-3 tie, but the Spiders pulled out a three-set victory at No. 5 singles to claim the victory.
"This one hurts," head coach Jimmy Davis said. "I'm really happy with how the guys played. We battled and fell a point or two short again. Richmond is a very tough team and they were grittier than us on the big points today. I see major improvements in the guys' overall game and confidence, and I know we're going to start closing these out come conference time. We're going to continue to use these close matches as fuel to help us make the final push we need."
Richmond got off to a fast start by winning the first two doubles matches while taking a 1-0 lead.
Mason quickly responded with yet another dominant performance by No. 1 singles stud
Edward Ayers. The San Antonio product swept Richmond ace Caleb Tory, 6-0, 6-0. Ayers has dropped just two games total in his past two matches.
Richmond won in straight sets at No. 2 and No. 3 to build a 3-1 edge, but Mason won the next two to knot the score.
Freshman
Carter Bradford continued his spectacular freshman campaign with a win at No. 4. He claimed the victory in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) and is now 13-3 in dual matches. He improves to 4-3 at the No. 4 spot.
Then, senior
Giuliano Buzoianu improved his No. 6 singles record to 5-3 with a marathon victory over Joe Nardini. He won the first set, 6-4, then dropped the second, 6-1. But Buzoianu was excellent in the final frame, winning it 6-2 to take the match.
In the deciding No. 5 singles match, senior
Pally Ray and Richmond's George Lovitt each took a set, as the match came down to a final frame. Ray battled extremely hard, but ultimately fell 7-5 in the deciding set.
Mason remains at home to take on Colgate on Saturday at 4 p.m. The match will be played at the Burke Racquet Club.
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