Drexel beats Temple men’s tennis shorthanded team

Sophomore Juan Araoz and junior Uladzimir Dorash missed their third straight matches in the Owls’ 6-1 loss to Drexel on Thursday afternoon at the Vidas Courts on Drexel’s campus.

Junior Alberto Caceres Casas practices at the Student Pavilion on Oct. 25. | SYDNEY SCHAEFER / FILE PHOTO

Drexel won five of the six singles matches to cruise to a 6-1 victory against Temple on Thursday at the Vidas Courts in Philadelphia.

The Owls (9-7, 0-1 American Athletic Conference) have now lost back-to-back matches. Drexel (10-5) has now won four consecutive matches, while Temple has lost four of its past five.

The Owls entered the match shorthanded. The Owls were without sophomore Juan Araoz and junior Uladzimir Dorash for the third consecutive match. Additionally, senior Thomas Sevel was forced to concede his match to Drexel senior Hamza Laalej due to injury.

“Playing without three starters in any sport is difficult,” coach Steve Mauro said. “We gave it our best shot, but it was a tall task to beat a good team like Drexel.”

Junior Alberto Caceres Casas defeated Drexel senior Balaji Lakshmanan, 6-3, 6-2, in the second flight for the Owls’ lone singles win.

The injuries to Araoz and Dorash forced freshman Michael Haelen to compete in singles. Haelen lost to Drexel freshman Sanil Jagtiani, 6-2, 6-0, in the third flight.

The Dragons won two of the three doubles matches after Temple was forced to concede one of the doubles matches after only having five players available.

With Sevel and Araoz out, Caceres Casas and freshman Mark Wallner competed in doubles together. Caceres Casas and Wallner defeated Dragons junior Sinan Orhon and graduate student Bernard Tefel, 7-5.

In the other doubles match, sophomores Eric Biscoveanu and Francisco Bohorquez lost to Lakshmanan and Jagtiani.

The Owls will return to action on Saturday in a conference matchup against Connecticut at Legacy Tennis Center in East Falls.

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