CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team continued their tough non-conference slate Saturday, traveling to the campus of Coe College to take on the Kohawks inside the Clark Racquet Center.
The Yellowjackets would face tough teams in back-to-back days, as Coe fell to Luther College (the 'Jackets' opponent yesterday) in the 2023 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) championship match.
Coe would walk away with a 5-4 victory Saturday, winning all three doubles matches. Despite taking the loss, the Yellowjackets would rally to win four-of-six singles matches on the afternoon.
Match Notes
- The Yellowjackets kept things close in doubles action, as the duo of Davide Pelletti (Prado, Brazil) and Sharan Kanugovi (Bangalore, Karnataka/New Baldwin International School) played the closest match of the afternoon despite taking the 8-7 (7-2) loss.
- Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) and Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) were slotted at No. 1 doubles, falling to Ivan Burt-Smith and Jumpei Kasai 8-6.
- Rounding out the doubles matches was Yash Chhabra (Jaipur, Rajasthan/Sanskar School) and Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti), who suffered an 8-6 loss at No. 3.
- Kanugovi took a win at No. 2 singles, defeating Burt-Smith 6-2 in the first game before falling 4-6. He would rally in the final game, though, picking up the 6-4 win.
- Lucca Paladini (Blumenu, Brazil/Colegio Saber) would fall in his first game with Coe's Alex Palomar, but fought to win the second game 6-2 and secure the victory 7-6 (7-3).
- Another Yellowjacket who fell under the same narrative was Davide Pelletti (Prado, Brazil), losing the first 7-5 and clawing back to win 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) against Kasai at the fifth singles position.
- Rounding things out for the 'Jackets was Zacharias at No. 6 singles, defeating Isaac Hinze 6-4, 6-2.
The Yellowjackets will now have more than two weeks to prepare for their spring trip to Florida. Their first opponent in the Sunshine State will be North Central (Ill.), taking place Mar. 11 at 5 p.m. CT at the USTA National Campus.
