The men’s tennis team was defeated for a sixth-straight match.
The Owls (2-6, 1-1 Atlantic 10 Conference) fell 6-1 to Lehigh, who improved to 8-1 (0-0 Patriot League). The Mountain Hawks have won their last seven matches, all at home.
“The problem today was guys were just tired from the match against GW,” coach Steve Mauro said. “We ended on the later side last night, and the match today was played at 10. I think if we had a little more time, the match would have had a different outcome. They still fought hard.”
In singles play, senior Kacper Rams fell 6-2, 6-2 to sophomore Ben Gilman in the first flight. Rams, who has not won a match this spring, has been battling a nerve injury.
“It’s a nerve in his back that goes down into his shoulder and into his hand,” Mauro said. “He’s been doing some rehab with it. He’s been struggling. We’re hoping somehow he can alleviate his pain.”
In the second flight, sophomore Kristian Marquart fell to junior Mark Goldberg 6-2, 6-2. Freshman Hicham Belkssir lost 6-3, 6-0 to sophomore Mitchell Petersen in flight three.
Freshman Santiago Canete was defeated 6-1, 6-1 by senior Matt Savran in the fourth flight, In the fifth flight, freshman Nicolas Paulus got Temple’s only point of the day with a 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 victory over senior Andrew Krentz.
“He got off to a slow start, but he finished strong,” Mauro said of Paulus. “I was really happy with the effort he gave today. He keeps improving every day, so as the season goes on he’ll probably be moved up higher in the lineup. I think he’s capable of playing against some of the top players in the conference.”
In flight six, freshman Sam Rundle fell 6-4, 6-2 to sophomore DJ Goldblum.
GW got the doubles point. In the top flight, Rams and Canete were defeated 9-8 (3) by Petersen and Goldberg. Marquart and Rundle triumphed 8-5 over Savran and freshman Jeremy Kochman in the second flight. In flight three, Paulus and sophomore Hernan Vasconez fell to Gilman and Krentz 8-5.
Temple is next in action at Legacy against Binghamton at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
Evan Cross can be reached at evan.cross@temple.edu or on Twitter @EvanCross.
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