DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second time this season, the Embry-Riddle men's tennis team played a match that lasted longer than five hours and for the second time, the squad came out on the wrong end of a 5-4 contest as the sixth-ranked Eagles fell to ninth-ranked Lynn at the Crotty Tennis Complex on Wednesday. The Eagles took a 2-1 lead after doubles, but the Fighting Knights were able to get the four singles points they needed for the win to improve to 11-4 on the year, while ERAU moves to 8-2.
 
The 13^th-ranked tandem of Deni Zmak and Juan Ortiz Couder struck first for the Eagles as they downed Pavel Mohija and Mehdi Laalej 8-5 at No. 1 doubles. The Fighting Knights evened the score when Jose Porfirio and Danyang Xu topped Luke de Caires and Mickael Faucher 8-5 on court three. The match at the second spot needed a tie-breaker to determine the outcome and it was the Eagles' Fabian Zierleyn and Carlos Becke who held off Jean Baptiste Mateo and Daniel Riggs 9-8 (7-4) to put the Blue and Gold up 2-1 heading into doubles.
 
The first singles match off the court was at No. 2 where 19^th-ranked Mojha got the better of the match-up against No. 29 Zierleyn, 6-2, 6-2. Sixth-ranked Zmak put the Eagles ahead 3-2 after taking down Riggs 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1, but the Fighting Knights were able to pull level again when Laalej grabbed a 6-4, 6-4 win against Becke on court three.
 
Playing at No. 4 singles Arreygue and Ethan Itzkovitz played an extra game in the first set with Arreygue coming out ahead 7-5 In the second, the ERAU sophomore fell behind 3-0, but rallied to win the match 6-3 and put the Eagles up 4-3.
 
The matches at No. 5 and No. 6 both went to three sets and both contests saw the Eagles take an early one-set lead. At the fifth spot, Ortiz Couder took the first frame 6-3, but Mateo came back to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-2 to tie the team score at 4-4, making the contest at No. 6 between de Caires and Porfirio the deciding point.
 
De Caires took a commanding 6-1 win in the first, but was unable to sustain the momentum and quickly fell behind 4-1 in the second. The ERAU junior was able to close the gap to 5-4, but Porfirio held on to win the set and cruised to a 6-1 victory in the third to score the clinching point.
 
The Eagles will look to rebound from the loss on April 7 when they host former Sun Conference opponent Southeastern at the Crotty Tennis Complex at 3:30 p.m.


Tennis Match Results
Lynn vs Embry-Riddle
Mar 30, 2016 at Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
#9 Lynn 5, #6 Embry-Riddle 4
 
 Singles competition
1. #6 Deni Zmak (ERAUMT15) def. Daniel Riggs (LYNNM) 6-3, 6-2
2. #19 Pavel Mojha (LYNNM) def. #29 Fabian Zierleyn (ERAUMT15) 6-2, 6-2
3. Mehdi Laalej (LYNNM) def. Carlos Becke (ERAUMT15) 6-4, 6-4
4. Rodolfo Arreygue (ERAUMT15) def. Ethan Itzkovitz (LYNNM) 7-5, 6-3
5. Jean Baptist Mateo (LYNNM) def. Juan Ortiz Couder (ERAUMT15) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Jose Porfirio (LYNNM) def. Luke de Caires (ERAUMT15) 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
 
 Doubles competition
1. #13 Deni Zmak/Juan Ortiz Couder (ERAUMT15) def. # Pavel Mojha/Mehdi Laalej (LYNNM) 8-5
2. #21 Fabian Zierleyn/Carlos Becke (ERAUMT15) def. Jean Baptist Mateo/Daniel Riggs (LYNNM) 9-8 (7-4)
3. Jose Porfirio/Danyang Xu (LYNNM) def. Luke de Caires/Mickael Faucher (ERAUMT15) 8-5
 
Match Notes:
Lynn 11-4; National ranking #9
Embry-Riddle 8-2; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,1,3,4,5,6)
Porfirio clinched at No. 6 singles
T-5:04  A-42