It wasn’t easy, but it was a perfect day for the Vols.
Following a 7-0 clean sweep of Bellarmine earlier in the day, Tennessee Men’s Tennis replicated its performance with another 7-0 victory against Eastern Kentucky. A combination of dominance and pure grit helped Tennessee notch a flawless day in its doubleheader.
It started with the doubles session. All eyes were on freshman Shion Itsusaki from Osaka, Japan. With Dragos Cazacu out playing in a tournament today, the freshman was called upon to step up. After winning both of his matches earlier, he followed up his encore with similar success.
Once more, he was paired up with Jose Garcia, facing the Colonel’s Fernando Bulnes and Pepe Miralles. The duet opened the match with a break and rolled from then on. Itsusaki found great success with his serve from the jump. In the fourth game, Itsusaki had multiple unreturned serves as they completed a love hold. Garcia and Itsusaki successfully held all of their service games en route to a 6-1 victory. Itsusaki broke out his now-signature bow-and-arrow celebration. He then interacted with the fans and handed out t-shirts.
The Vols’ top pair, Alejandro Moreno and Piotr Siekanowicz, found great success themselves. They faced EKU’s Nuno Pinheiro and Ilie Cazac. The Vols hit stride in game four when Siekanowicz hit a loft shot over the heads of both Pinheiro and Cezac to put them up two break points. Moreno and Siekanowicz closed out the game to go up 3-1. In the seventh game, Moreno’s powerful serves hit exactly where he needed them to go. The Vols would go up 5-2, where they duet broke once more for the 6-2 victory.
Vol’s Ethan Muza and Boruch Skierkier only needed one break to put away Joao Barreto and Adrian Contreras. Controlling all of their service games, the pair of Vols gained an early break, which set the tone for the rest of the match. In the latter stages, Skierkier stifled Eastern Kentucky with his overpowering forehand. The Colonels could not contain the southpaw as Tennessee closed out their doubles session with a 6-3 victory.
Tennessee would find the same kind of dominance in singles as they had in doubles. The Vols’ No. 1 guy, Moreno, faced the Colonels’ No. 1, Pinheiro. When on serve, Moreno was able to win multiple net points in his first set. He was never broken in that set. In his final service game, the fifth game, he fittingly had a love hold to go up 4-1. Moreno controlled the sidelines and utilized his slice very well, winning the first set, 6-1. Moreno was threatened multiple times in the second set. Pienkheiro had two different games where he had a break point. He could not convert on those opportunities. Both times, Moreno kept things in check, giving out a couple of calm fist pumps. In the seventh and final game of set two, Moreno forced deuce, where he closed out the match, winning 6-1, 6-1 on Court 1.
Sieknowicz and Barreto faced off in a strong showing for the Volunteer. Sieknowicz broke in games two and four to jump out to a 4-0 start. Barreto battled back by getting a break of his own sandwiched between two holds. Sieknowicz held his service games to close out the set 6-3. Sieknowicz was never contested in the second set, winning all six games to win his match 6-3, 6-0.
Muza and Cazac were the fastest in the singles matches, dominated by Muza. Muza was broken in his first service game and faced a 0-2 deficit. He kept emotions high in a 6-1 cruising in the first set. Muza opened the second set with two more breaks. Although he was broken in game five, it was still 4-1. He responded with another break and closed out the set, winning the match 6-1, 6-1.
Freshman Itsusaki had himself another audition, this time against Eastern Kentucky’s Kartik Parhar. Itsusaki made his presence known early with a love hold in game two. After winning nine straight points, Itsusaki had himself three break points in the third game. Parhar battled back to win the game. He carried that momentum into game four with a break point of his own. Itsusaki held in deuce and never looked back. With breaks in games five and seven, the freshman took the first set. The opening game of the second set saw a forced error by Itsusaki to get a break. He went up 15-40 in the fifth game, but Parhar forced deuce. Itsusaki followed by winning the next two points to go up 4-1. After a hold, Itsusaki got another break in deuce to close out his match and stellar day 6-2, 6-1.
The only match to go three sets was between Kobierski and Contreras. Two breaks in the first set helped Contreras win the first set 5-3. The eighth and final game of that set changed the entire match for Kobierski, even with a loss. It was the most vocal he was despite a tough loss in a deuce. A strong serve and good returns won him the first two games in the second set. The entire set, he was dominating at the net, winning nearly everything. Kobierski took care of business in set two, 6-1, to force a third-set tiebreak.
Kobierski opened with a mini-break, followed by an ace to start 2-0 in the tiebreak. Up 6-1, Contreras battled back despite the great defense and forehand shots from Kobierski. Now at 6-5, Kobierski gained control and looked for the finish line. With Moreno and Muza cheering him on from the side, Kobierski hit some improbable shots, including a couple of forehand winners to now hold match point. With his teammates looking on, Kobierski fittingly hit a strong forehand winner. He pointed to the sky and then hugged Moreno and Muza to cap off an emotional and wild comeback win.
Garcia and Bulnes ended up being the longest match of the day, though it was only two sets. Garcia took some time to find his footing. At 30-30 in his first service game, he wiggled his way out to hold. He couldn’t replicate the same fate in game four, where he was broken in deuce. Garcia had a couple of breaks of his own where he ultimately won the first set 6-2. Set number two took over an hour as it was filled with long games and long rallies. Bulnes controlled the set early, where he had a pivotal winner in game three to force deuce, eventually winning. In game six, Bulnes had his eyes on a break. A 15-point rally ended with a Bulnes winner to force deuce. Garcia was able to gain his composure, winning the next two points and holding his service. Even at 3-3, Bulnes handily won his service game. A love break in game eight broke Garcia. With his back against the wall for the set, Garcia gained a surge over Bulnes and held his serve to tie things up at 5-5. Another love break had Garcia serving for the set. He was lightly threatened as he held to win himself a thriller of a match, 6-2, 7-5.
Tennessee tennis returns to the court at Michigan State on Feb 6.
