Men’s tennis falls to Piedmont
Scots supporters filled the hill on March 29 as the Maryville College Men’s tennis team faced off against one of their toughest opponents, Piedmont College.
The teams began the battle with doubles. At no.1 doubles, Daniel Silva and Marco Escudero, MC, went up against Matthew Metzger and Nathan Metzger, Piedmont, and lost 8-0. MC’s Gabriel Rodriguez and Charles Russell went head to head with Bryan Barnett and Brent Jenkins, but fell to the Lions’ second squad 8-0 as well. The no.3 doubles spot played a close match as Maryville’s Will Marttala and Wesley Bloeme matched up against Piedmont’s Robbie Werner and Harrison LaBollita. Marttala and Bloeme fought a close battle but fell to Piedmont 8-5.
As singles began, the overall score was 3-0 in favor of the Piedmont Lions. The top three singles set foot to the court with Maryville’s Silva, Escudero and Rodriguez against Piedmont’s N. Metzger, M.Metzger and Barnett. The Scots and the Lions fought hard against one another. N. Metzger defeated Silva in a close battle with a final score of 6-4, 6-3. Escudero fell to M. Metzger 6-2, 6-0 in a heated second battle. Rodriguez also fell to Piedmont’s Barnett with a final score of 6-1, 6-2.
As the top three singles finished, the overall score of the match was 6-0. The bottom three singles players stepped foot on the court, and all players were ready to fight despite what the overall outcome would be. At no. 4, Russell played a close first set against Jenkins but fell in the first set 6-4. Jenkins came back hard in the second set and won the overall match 6-4, 6-1.
Marttala faced off against Werner at no. 5 singles. The first set was close as the two men fought back to back, but Werner took the early advantage ending the first set 6-4. Werner also continued to hold an advantage in the second set and defeated Marttala 6-4, 6-0 in the overall match score.
In the closest match for the men, Bloeme took to the court at no. 6 singles against Piedmont’s LaBollita. Bloeme took the court by storm in the first set, winning an advantage over LaBollita of 6-1. During the second set, LaBollita fought back strong and came back with a set score of 6-2 over Bloeme. The men took to a 10 point tiebreak showdown, where LaBollita defeated Bloeme, bringing the match score to 1-6, 6-2, 1-0.
The MC men are now number 10 in the USA South conference standings, whereas Piedmont holds the number 7 position. The future of the Scots is beginning to look a little brighter with the return of senior Dakota McMahon, who has spent the season overcoming an injury. McMahon now joins the team in travel and practice, but it is still uncertain if he will be able to step into match action.
The men also held their Senior Day match on April 3. It was a warm and sentimental day for Marttala and McMahon as they played on their home court for the last time. Martalla, who is a prominent leader on the team, shared his sentiments that he would like to leave behind with the younger players.
“Enjoy every match you play because it goes by so quickly,” Marttala said. “Soon, you’ll be swinging your racquet for the last time as a Maryville Scot.”