Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University's men's tennis team advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament finals after battling late into the night to secure a 4-3 win over Jacksonville State University at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville.
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The Colonels will face Tennessee Tech (12-6) in the championship match on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The Golden Eagles went 6-0 in the league during the regular season.
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Saturday's semifinal match didn't end until 2:50 a.m. ET Sunday morning.
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Parth Aggarwal won an epic three-set match at No. 4 singles to secure the victory for the Colonels. He won the first set 6-4. He had two match points, serving with a 5-4 lead, before dropping the second to Paolo Cucalon 7-6 (7-5). Down 6-5 in the third set, Aggarwal fought off three match points by Cucalon to force a tie-break set. Despite suffering muscle cramps, he won the tiebreaker set 7-2 to send EKU to the finals.
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"It was unbelievably epic," Eastern Kentucky Head Coach
Rob Oertel said. "This team just never gives up and Parth displayed that in the clinching set. Can't wait to play the finals."
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EKU (16-9), the No. 2 seed, lost the doubles point to the third seeded Gamecocks (12-9) to begin the match.
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The Colonels tied the match at 1-1 with
Ramon van Flymen's straight set victory at No. 1 singles, and tied it again, 2-2, when
Sebastian Mueller picked up a 7-6 and 6-2 win at No. 2 singles. Eastern tied it for a third time, 3-3, with a 6-3 and 6-3 victory by
Diego Asis at No. 6 singles.
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Eastern Kentucky University 4, Jacksonville State 3
Singles competition
1.
Ramon van Flymen (EKU) def. REESE, Jaryd (JSU) 6-1, 6-1
2.
Sebastian Mueller (EKU) def. CAFFARENA, Pablo (JSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
3. CHAIM, Mathias (JSU) def.
Jan Kuehling (EKU) 6-4, 6-2
4.
Parth Aggarwal (EKU) def. CUCALON, Paolo (JSU) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2)
5. MORCK, Felix (JSU) def.
Guillem Sanchis (EKU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
6.
Diego Asis (EKU) def. AGOST, Guillermo (JSU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. REESE, Jaryd/McCORMICK, Austin (JSU) def.
Ramon van Flymen/
Sebastian Mueller (EKU) 6-2
2. CHAIM, Mathias/MORCK, Felix (JSU) def.
Jan Kuehling/
Parth Aggarwal (EKU) 6-1
3.
Guillem Sanchis/
Diego Asis (EKU) vs. CAFFARENA, Pablo/GOMEZ, Andres (JSU) 4-4, unfinished
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Match Notes:
Jacksonville State 12-9
Eastern Kentucky University 16-9
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,3,2,5,6,4*)
2017 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament - Semifinals
No. 2 seed EKU vs. No. 3 seed Jacksonville State
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