LONGVIEW, Tex. - After 5 hours of grueling tennis late into the evening, the Austin College Men's Tennis Team pulled out a win from the grasp of LeTourneau University 5-4.
Freshman Josh Granberry (Plano, TX - Plano West) found himself down 5-2 in the first set, team score tied 2-2, and by the end of it, found himself last man on at Line 3 Singles with everything on the line.
Confidently striking forehands from corner to corner, Josh closed on the net and used his volleys to cut down the time his opponent had to cover the court. His high first-seve percentage gave him the weapon he needed to hold after finding two breaks in the second set, and several mini-breaks in the Super-Tiebreaker.
"I walked up to tell him the match was tied 4-4 and before I could tell him he said 'Zero-zero.'" At that point I knew he had it.
AC found themselves up 2-1 following Doubles play with Meendsen and Glasscock taking Line 2 Doubles 9-8 (7-3), but shortly fell into a 4-2 hole after LeTourneau took Line 1 in two set-tiebreakers, Line 2 in a third-set super-tiebreaker, and Line 6 in straight sets.
Will Crouch was the first singles match to go the 'Roos way at Line 5, 6-2, 6-4. Then Preston Glasscock tied the match with a critical 6-2, 6-3 win at Line 4; setting Josh up for the moment in which every competitor dreams to be.
Granberry won 4 straight games to close out the second set, and used that momentum to lock up the super-tiebreaker 10-6.
Austin College plays tomorrow in Richardson, TX against the University of Texas at Dallas at 1:00pm.
Austin College 5, LeTourneau University 4
Longview, TX
Davis Tennis Courts
2/20/16
Singles
1. Michael McLaughlin (LETU) 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3)
2. Ty Grove (LETU) def. Erik Meendsen (AC) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8)
3. Josh Granberry (AC) def. Morgan Weaver (LETU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (6)
4. Preston Glasscock (AC) def. Robby Bundy (LETU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Will Crouch (AC) def. Caleb Epps (LETU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Kevin Warren (LETU) def. Jeff Kubena 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1. Ambulo/Granberry (AC) def. McLaughlin/Weaver (LETU) 8-6
2. Meendsen/Glasscock (AC) def. Grove/Epps (LETU) 9-8 (3)
3. Bundy/Martin (LETU) def. Kubena/Oxenreiter (AC) 8-5
Match Notes
Austin College: 2-4 (0-1)
LeTourneau University: 0-4 (0-2)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2) Singles (6, 1, 2, 5, 4, 3)