The Owls bounced back with a 6-1 win on Wednesday against Lehigh University after falling to Penn State 7-0 last Sunday.
The win against the Mountain Hawks improved the Owls overall record to 13-4, including 3-3 on the road this season.
“We just played solid tennis and guys were a little bit more used to playing outside,” coach Steve Mauro said. “But we just came out really strong in doubles and dominated doubles and it just kind of carried us through in singles.”
The Owls claimed victories in all three of the doubles matches against Lehigh.
Freshmen doubles leaders Uladzimir Dorash and Florian Mayer won 6-3 in the third flight, while senior Hicham Belkssir and junior Vineet Naran defeated senior Jeremy Kochman and freshmen Bryant Born 6-0 in the first flight.
“My standout performance I believe was number one doubles with Hicham Belkssir and Vineet Naran,” Mauro said. “[Belkssir and Naran] played their best doubles that I’ve ever seen them play. I was really happy with them And Artem Kapshuk won his match pretty easily at the number two position.”
Meanwhile, in singles, freshmen Artem Kapshuk, who leads the Owls in singles wins, racked up his 12 victory of the season with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Born.
In addition, senior Nicolas Paulus captured his ninth win of the season with a 6-2, 7-6 win against freshmen George Cooper, while senior Santiago Canete won 7-5, 6-3.
Mauro said Lehigh’s lone point was because of junior Filip Stipcic retiring during the match due his hamstring. He added Stipcic will be evaluated by the trainers on Thursday, and he expects him to be ready to play against Memphis on Saturday.
Memphis, the No. 33 team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men’s National Team Rankings, is 9-7 on the season. Temple is 2-1 against conference opponents and 0-3 against ranked teams this season.
“Memphis is a great, great team but I like our chances,” Mauro said. “I think we can compete against these top teams.”
Tom Ignudo can be reached at thomas.ignudo@temple.edu
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