MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico--In their first match on Puerto Rican soil in UMass Boston tennis history, the hosts didn't treat UMass Boston very kindly, as the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez earned a pair of victories over the Beacons.
The UMass Boston men's tennis team fell 9-0, while the women's team dropped an 8-1 decision.
Mens: University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 9, UMass Boston 0
In just their second match of the spring season and their first of the team's Spring Break trip, UMass Boston struggled to keep up with Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, who plays at a Division II level in Puerto Rico.
Charles Lai (Boston, Mass.) and Vlad Leopard (Carnikava, Latvia) both won a set in singles action, but fell just short in their third-set tiebreakers.
Puerto Rico-Mayaguez dominated doubles play, with the Beacons earning just nine out of 33 total games. Freshman Adirath Bhatotia (New Delhi, India) made his Beacons debut at number three doubles, with Bhatotia teaming up with Nikhil Illa for an 8-1 loss.
In singles action, the hosts comfortably took the middle four singles contests, with Lai (first singles) and Leopard (sixth singles) providing the most resistance.
Lai dropped the first set to Fabian Rodriguez 6-0, before coming back with a 6-3 second-set victory. In the third-set tiebreaker with the match already decided, Rodriguez slipped past Lai with a 10-6 victory.
Leopard's match was the final match of the day and potentially the best. The senior grabbed the first set with a 7-4 tiebreak victory to grab a hold of the lead over Eduardo Hernandez. After Hernandez tied the match with a 6-3 second set win, the two went back-and-forth in the third-set tiebreaker, before Hernandez emerged with an 11-9 win.
Womens: University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 8, UMass Boston 1
After a five-month lay-off, the women's tennis team returned to action against some of the best competition they've seen all academic year.
The Beacons' freshman duo of Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) and Martina Daelli (Florence, Italy) took home UMass Boston's lone point of the day, as the pair improved to 8-5 on the season at number one doubles. They picked up an 8-5 victory over the hosts number one duo of Andrea Rivera and Natalia Sanchez.
With the single win at number one doubles, the Beacons found themselves trailing 2-1 entering singles action.
Garcia and Kathleen Conroy (Quincy, Mass.) would prove to be the two most difficult challenges for Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, as the hosts took 6-1, 6-1 victories in four out of six singles matches.
Garcia pushed her first set at number singles into a tiebreak, only to fall 7-2 in the tiebreaker. Nicole Rosich followed up her first set win with a 6-2 victory to knock off Garcia.
At number six singles, Amaralis Gonzalez defeated Conroy 6-2, 6-1 in the final match of the afternoon.
Both Beacons teams will be back in action Tuesday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to take on Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras in the second match of four for each UMass Boston team.
