Playing in their first outdoor matches of the Spring, the Missouri Baptist Men's Tennis team had a solid weekend, winning 2 out of their 3 matches.
On Friday afternoon the Spartans (2-3) made quick work of Fontbonne Univeristy for their first win of the year, 9-0. After only dropping 1 total game in doubles, the Spartans didn't let up and only gave up 7 combined games in singles play, winning all six courts.
Doubles:
#1 Morris/Morris (MBU) def Sides/Backus (FU) 8-0
#2 Stickler/Henke (MBU) def Justice/Reichert (FU) 8-1
#3 Taplin/Nanney (MBU) def Thomas/Jennings (FU) 8-0
Singles:
#1 Tanner Morris (MBU) def Austin Sides (FU) 6-0, 6-1
#2 Cody Taplin (MBU) def Brandon Backus (FU) 6-4, 6-0
#3 Sean Nanney (MBU) Thaddeus Justice (FU) 6-0, 6-2
#4 Ross Henke (MBU) def Yada Demisse (FU) 6-0, 6-1
#5 Kyle Stickler (MBU) def Kameron Thomas (FU) 6-0, 6-0
#6 Ryan Migneron (MBU) def Michael Jennings 8-0
On Saturday morning, the Spartans took on a very talented Ashford University squad and fell 6-3.
Drew Morris and Ian Furey picked up a huge win at #1 doubles 8-4, but the Spartans #2 doubles team couldn't close the deal despite serving at 6-all 30-15 and the Spartans were behind 2-1 after doubles play.
In singles, Ian Furey continued his high level of play at #3 singles and rolled through his opponent while only dropping 3 games. At # 5 freshman Sean Nanney jumped out to an early lead, but made some costly errors as he lost in a close 3rd set.
Meanwhile, at #1 Drew Morris fell behind 6-1, 5-1 and looked like he might be in for a short day. Then, after saving a few match points at 5-2, Morris began to find his range and forced a 2nd set tiebreak, which he quickly won 7-3. Not content with just forcing a 3rd set tiebreak, Morris jumped out to a large lead in the 3rdset breaker and never looked back, taking it 10-7.
"It was really nice to see Drew and Ian step up against a quality opponent like they did today", said coach Cole Stevenson. "…we were missing a few guys (Ross Henke and Conner Stevenson) and two veterans stepped up."
When asked about Morris' singles comeback, Stevenson didn't seem the least bit surprised. "This is what we have come to expect from Drew. He's got serious guts....I think he could have made his move a lot sooner had he stayed a little more calm/composed early on, but he got the job done like he always does. I never worry about Drew."
Doubles:
#1 Morris/Furey (MBU) def Castillo/Krzelj (AU) 8-4
#2 Pico/Pico (AU) def Morris/Nanney (MBU) 8-6
#3 Van Rooijen/Benites def Stickler/Taplin (MBU) 8-3
Singles:
#1 Drew Morris (MBU) def Carlos Pico (AU) 1-6, 7-6(3), 10-7
#2 Gian Pico (AU) def Tanner Morris (MBU) 6-3. 6-2
#3 Ian Furey (MBU) def Luis Castillo (AU) 6-3, 6-0
#4 Bart Van Rooijen (AU) def Cody Taplin (MBU) 6-4, 6-1
#5 Brayton Rasche (AU) def Sean Nanney (MBU) 2-6, 6-4, 10-8
#6 Erick Taach (AU) def Kyle Stickler (MBU) 6-0, 6-1
Following the tough loss to Ashford, Missouri Baptist had a quick turnaround for their match against Central College, which they handled well, and grabbed their 2nd win of the weekend.
The Spartans #2 and #3 doubles teams bounced back from their matches against Ashford by taking care of business 8-2 and 8-4, respectively. This gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead going into singles.
After Drew Morris (#1) and Kyle Stickler (#6) cruised to victory, the rest of the Spartans had some of their closest singles matches to date, playing four different 3rd set tiebreak's. Furey, T. Morris, and Nanney all lost their 3rd sets, but freshman Cody Taplin was able to seal the deal in his match, which consequently sealed the deal for the Spartans as they got the win 5-4.
"Cody didn't know it at the time, but that was his biggest collegiate win so far. We ended up really needing it." Said Stevenson after the match. "In the end we have a lot to be excited about after today. For the most part, I was extremely happy with our level of play."
Doubles:
#1 Adelman/Kahl (CC) def Morris/Furey (MBU) 8-5
#2 Nanney/Morris (MBU) def Forst/Seier (CC) 8-2
#3 Stickler/Taplin (MBU) def Schares/Cunnigham (CC) 8-5
Singles:
#1 Drew Morris (MBU) def West Adelman (CC) 6-1, 6-1
#2 Tim Kahl (CC) def Tanner Morris (MBU) 6-2, 3-6, 10-7
#3 Josh Forst (CC) def Ian Furey (MBU) 6-2, 4-6, 10-5
#4 Cody Taplin (MBU) def Collin Schares (CC) 3-6, 6-1, 10-6
#5 John Seier (CC) def Sean Nanney (MBU) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
#6 Kyle Stickler (MBU) def B.J. Cunningham (CC) 6-3, 6-4
The Spartans next match is against Lindenwood-Belleville, Monday March 17th at CBC. First serve scheduled for 11:30am.
