AUSTIN – The 17th-ranked St. Edward’s men’s tennis team took on 18th-ranked Cameron Wednesday afternoon at the Strohmeyer Varsity Tennis Courts. This regional matchup had all the makings of a great match however the Hilltoppers came up short, falling to the Aggies, 5-4, in a hard fought match.
St. Edward’s (9-5) gained a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play after two pairs of Hilltoppers were able to fend off Cameron’s aggressive play in doubles. At No. 1 doubles, Ned Boone (London, England/LSU) and Eduardo Bencke (Porto Alegre, Brazil/Colegio Anchieta) continued their dominance winning 8-5 over Nicolai Ferrigno and Mateus Campos. The duo has a team best 11 wins and an impressive 11-2 record on the season. The second point won in doubles play came from Alexandre Beuno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Visconde de Porto Seguro) and Adrian Garza (Austin, Texas/AESA Academy) who competed at No. 2 doubles for the Hilltoppers. The duo downed the Aggies Pair of Thomas Peixoto and Gonzalo Garzon, 8-6.
With a 2-1 lead the Hilltoppers only needed to capture three points to secure the victory, however the boys got off to a slow stat. Only two St. Edward’s players won their first set of the match, while the rest quickly went down a set early to their opponents. Eduardo Bencke was one of the Hilltoppers who their first set, and would eventually defeat Duje Janjic, 6-4, 6-4. Senior Ryan Wiggins (Frisco, Texas/Old Dominion) dropped his first set 4-6, to Cameron’s Jorge Gerosi but would battle back to force a third set by taking the second set 6-2. Wiggins outplayed Gerosi in the third set to gain the 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, victory for the Hilltoppers at the No. 5 singles slot. James Rogers (Bahagowan, Australia/Mackay Christian College) and Ned Boone went the distance in their matches fighting from behind to force a third set before suffering defeats set to the hands of Gonzalo Garzon and Thomas Peixoto, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6, and 7-6, 4-6, 7-5, respectively.
All hope for the Hilltoppers fell into the hands of the sophomore Alexandre Beuno competing in the No. 6 singles against the Aggies’ Mateus Campos. Beuno came out strong, getting the best of Campos 6-3. In the second set Campos would respond to the challenge and defeated Beuno 7-5, to even the score. Unfortunately for Beuno and the Hilltoppers, Campos was just too much to handle in the third set and took the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and secured the fifth and final point of the match for Cameron.
The Hilltoppers will be back to action Saturday at home on the Strohmeyer Varsity Tennis Courts where they face off against Southeast Oklahoma State. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m.