NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. --- Asbury women's tennis kicked off their season in style on Friday while the men's team nearly completed a senior-day sweep in double victory for the Eagles over Hanover College. 

The action kicked off at Top Seed Tennis Club with Asbury taking all six doubles matches. Singles play followed a similar narrative, with the Eagles taking nine of the twelve singles matches. An 8-1 overall victory improves the men's team to 2-0 this spring, and a 7-2 victory on the women's side was exactly what the Eagles were looking for in their season opener. 

Alejandro Caceres and Gregorio Ingles set the tone on the men's side, winning their match for AU, 8-1. Franco Patino and Yuri Tirado followed suit, winning their match 8-1 as well. Yousef Ismail and Joseph Lewis finished off the men's doubles fixture with a gutsy 8-5 win. 

In singles play, Caceres and Ismail both shined, giving up only 3 combined games the entire day. Ingles and Lewis showed great consistency, yielding off strong pushes by their competitors and winning handily. All eyes were on freshman Ignacio Ardiles as he was locked in a battle with Hanover's Abhay Sing. After dropping the first set 6-3, Ardiles dominated the second set 6-0 and won the tiebreaker handily at 10-3. Asbury's only loss in singles play was in a heartbreaking tiebreaker for Yuri Tirado, which was dropped 14-12 to Hanover's Gromochenko. 

 The women's competition was dominated by Asbury's strong freshmen class. Five of the six athletes who competed in doubles are first year athletes, with sophomore Kourtney Kawata being the most experienced player on the court. 

Kawata partnered with newcomer Ariadna Zegarra to win the top-ranked doubles match 8-3. The Eagles took both of the other doubles matches 8-2. 

In singles play, the women won four matches and lost two. In the four wins, Asbury's Ariadna Zegarra, Megan Moore, Fernanda Heredia, and Kourtney Kawata only gave up an astounding eight games out of fifty-six played. The two matches lost both came in third-set tiebreakers for Mikaela West and Olivia Rogowski. 

While still early in the season, such a dominating win shows the bright future that the Eagles have in their talented underclassmen. According to these young players, though, the best part of the day was celebrating seniors Yuri Tirado and Gregorio Ingles as they competed in the final home matches of the year. 

 

Men's Doubles 

Ingles/Caceres (AU) def Brodski/Zumba (Hanover), 8-1

Ismail/Lewis (AU) def Keal/Sing (Hanover), 8-5

Tirado/Patino (AU) def Assumpcao/Jaourn (Hanover), 8-1

Men's Singles

Gregorio Ingles (AU) def J.Keal (Hanover), 6-2, 6-4

Alejandro Caceres (AU) def N.Zumba (Hanover), 6-1, 6-0

Joseph Lewis (AU) def J.Brodski (Hanover), 6-3, 6-3

Ignacio Ardiles (AU) def A.Sing (Hanover),  3-6, 6-0 (10-3)

Yousef Ismail (AU) def V.Jaourn (Hanover), 6-2, 6-0

I. Gromochenko (Hanover) def Yuri Tirado (AU) 4-6, 6-2 (14-12)


Women's Doubles

Kawata/Zegarra (AU) def Tippery/Roberts (Hanover), 8-3

Moore/Heredia (AU) def Pinnick/Hale (Hanover), 8-2

Rogowski/West (AU) def Waskom/Vandventer (Hanover), 8-2


Women's Singles

Ariadna Zegarra (AU) def M. Tippery (Hanover), 6-2, 6-1

Megan Moore (AU) def R. PInnick (Hanover), 6-2, 6-0

I. Roberts (Hanover) def Mikaela West (AU), 6-3, 4-6 (10-2)

Fernanda Heredia (AU) def L. Waskom (Hanover), 6-2, 6-0

Kourtney Kawata (AU) def H.Vandventer (Hanover), 6-0, 6-1

L. Hale (Hanover) def O. Rogowski (AU), 6-0, 2-6 (10-7)
 

Full match results HERE.


"It's been a whole adventure, the feelings that you get inside the court playing and outside the courts cheering for your teammates is incomparable. I will never forget these moments. Tennis, more mentally than anything, is a challenging sport. I've cried, laughed, smiled, yelled, won, and lost. I've had moments of immense happiness as well as moments that have pushed me to my limits. I am very thankful for this sport, thankful for my family, thankful for the coaching staff, and thankful for having such amazing teammates along my journey."

Yuri Tirado | Men's Tennis Senior



Men's Doubles
D1 Alejandro Caceres and Gregorio Ingles; 8-1
D3 Franco Patino and Yuri Tirado; 8-1

Men's Singles
S2 Alejandro Caceres; 6-1,6-0
S5 Youssef Ismail; 6-2, 6-0
S4 Ignacio Ardiles; 3-6, 6-0 (10-3)

Women's Doubles
D2 Megan Moore and Fernanda Heredia; 8-2

Women's Singles
S1 Ariadna Zegarra; 6-2, 6-1
S2 Megan Moore; 6-2, 6-0
S5 Kourtney Kawata; 6-0, 6-1
S4 Fernanda Heredia; 6-2, 6-0



AU Men's Tennis competes again on February 18th against Denison University, hosted by Centre College in Danville, KY.

AU Women's Tennis competes again on February 21st against local foe Transylvania University at Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville, KY. 


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