ORLANDO – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team hit the court for the first time on its trip to Florida Monday, taking on North Central College of Illinois. In the only previous meeting between the two schools, North Central defeated the Yellowjackets 5-0 in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament.
 
There was a little less on the line this time around, but unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, the result was similar.
 
North Central got it started quickly, sweeping the doubles matches on the way to a 9-0 win over the Yellowjackets at the United States Tennis Association National Campus.
 
The Yellowjackets fell behind early in all three doubles matches, and all three were done within a half hour. Things weren't much easier for the Yellowjackets in singles play, as five of the six matches were decided in straight sets.
 
Lucca Paladini (Blumenu, Brazil/Colegio Saber) played a solid match a No. 5 singles. Paladini dropped the first set 3-6 before storming back to win the second set 6-1. In the tiebreaking third, Paladini went point-for-point with North Central's Henry Ros, before falling 8-10 to give the Cardinal the 1-0 win in the third set, and ultimately the match.
 
Match Notes

• Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) and Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) teamed up at No. 1 doubles and fell 8-3 to Wyatt Crowell and Guillermo Gonzalez Fernandez in the closest of the three doubles matches.
• Davide Pelletti (Prado, Brazil) had a tight match at No. 6 singles before falling to Matt Crossland 5-7, 4-6.
• Kurachi took the loss a No. 1 singles, 4-6, 2-6, while Sharan Kanugovi (Bangalore, Karnataka/New Baldwin International School) lost at No. 3 singles by a reverse score, 4-6, 2-6.
• With the loss, the Yellowjackets have now lost their last three matches and their overall record in 2023-24 stands at 7-6.

The Yellowjackets will play a pair of matches Tuesday, taking on Hampden-Sydney at 10 a.m., followed by a match with UW-La Crosse a 1:30 p.m.
  Read Full Article