PHILADELPHIA – Indoors or outdoors, sunshine or rain, the George Mason University men's tennis team saw it all and overcame the madness, knocking off La Salle 4-3 in a 7+ hour match Friday in the City of Brotherly Love.
The match began outdoors, then went into a delay due to weather conditions. After an eventual move inside where only one court could be utilized, the Patriots battled through a number of third-set tiebreaks, but came out on top after a superb doubles point and clutch play making from some young talent.
With the match all tied up at 3-3, freshman
Erick Rivas clinched the win with a gutsy three set victory which came down to the final point.
It marked Mason's fourth-consecutive victory as the season hits the home stretch.
"We battled so many things that were out of our control tonight," head coach Jimmy Davis said. "With all the challenges, they didn't complain or lose their fight for one second. I'm so proud of how tough this team is when we face adversity. Hats off to everyone, but a special shout out to Erick. What he was able to do in the match knowing it all came down to him was an unbelievably gritty performance from a freshman. We have two more tough conference matches this weekend and we're ready to battle."
The Patriots rocketed out of the gate while sweeping the doubles point. An old reliable tandem of graduate student
Giuliano Buzoianu and junior Edwards Ayers reunited to dominate at No. 3 doubles and give Mason a 6-0 sweep. Then at No. 1, Mason's top tandem of sophomore
Ryan Charles and senior
Pally Ray took care of business with a 6-4 victory over La Salle's Mowrey/Fenjiro tandem. The Patriots made it three for three with a 6-4 victory from Rivas and junior
Jakob Nielsen at No. 2.
In singles, La Salle took No. 4 singles to tie up the score. Mason quickly retook the lead at 2-1, after Ray dispatched of Connor Merrill in straight sets (6-4, 6-1).
The Explorers rallied back to win the next two singles matches in tight fashion, forcing Mason into a 3-2 elimination scenario moving forward. At No. 3, Nielsen won the first set (6-4), but fell in a tiebreaker in the second. He then narrowly lost out in a super tiebreaker in the third (12-10), despite an outstanding effort.
Ayers had a similar situation at No. 1, where he won his first set (6-3), but also dropped a narrow second set (5-7). In the super tiebreaker, Ayers was edged, 10-6.
With the match on the line, Buzoianu stepped up to the only usable court and kept the Patriots alive with an excellent showing. He won his first set at No. 5 (6-2), then claimed a 6-3 victory in the second set to tie the match up at 3-3 heading to No. 6.
At that point, Rivas showed his mettle in a performance beyond his years. After dropping his first set (5-7), the Ashburn native rallied to win a second set tiebreak (7-6 (7-5)) with the match at stake. Then, in the super tiebreaker, Rivas took it 10-8 to give Mason an important A-10 victory, with two more critical ones on the docket this weekend.
Next up is Duquesne on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Philadelphia.
#GetPatriotic
