Zionsville, Ind.- Arizona Christian started strong in their match with Marian by winning the doubles point.  The Firestorm ended strong by earning the last point of the day.  Unfortunately, the Knights won everything in between the beginning and the end.

Match Info

• Match score: Marian - 5, Arizona Christian - 2
• Records: Arizona Christian - 4-5, Marian - 8-3
• NAIA Rankings: Arizona Christian - not ranked, Marian - RV
• Location: Pearson Automotive Tennis Center, Zionsville, IN

Inside Box Score

• Anthony Popyrin and Jonas Wand started doubles by winning 6-0 on court one
• Jose Dominguez and Andres Vasquez earned the team point for doubles with their 6-3 victory
• Andre Millett and Martin Thomas were up 5-2 on court but their match down as unfinished
• The Knights won the first three completed singles matches in straight sets
• The final three matches needed a third set to be decided
• Popyrin won 7-6 in the middle set on court one
• Wand cruised 6-1 in his first set but was turned away 7-6 and 7-5 in two and three
• After dropping the first set, Thomas responded by winning 6-3 and 10-6 in the super tiebreak

Thoughts from Coach Carlisle

"We came out on fire in doubles and jumped out to a 1-0 lead.  Unfortunately, we were not able to carry that momentum into singles and found ourselves fighting from behind quickly.  We have the talent to be a top 25 team, but right now we just have not figured out how to close the door when we have our chances.  For us to make that jump we are going to have to learn how to better handle adversity when it comes our way and stop letting one or two bad points cost us entire games and even sets.  We will get back to work this week and get fired up for GSAC play in a couple weeks."

Match v Marian

Doubles competition

1. POPYRIN, Anthony/WAND, Jonas (ACU) def. Mark Griffin/Greg Fulling (MU) 6-0

2. VASQUEZ, Andres/DOMINGUEZ, Jose (ACU) def. Jacob Wittenbaum/Jared Thomas (MU) 6-3

3. Hunter Sylvester/Jones McNamar (MU) vs. MILLET, Andre/THOMAS, Martin (ACU) 2-5, unfinished

Singles competition

1. Mark Griffin (MU) def. POPYRIN, Anthony (ACU) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3

2. Hunter Sylvester (MU) def. WAND, Jonas (ACU) 1-6, 7-6, 7-5

3. Dmitrii Voshchenkov (MU) def. MILLET, Andre (ACU) 6-0, 6-2

4. Ashwin Bhat (MU) def. DOMINGUEZ, Jose (ACU) 6-4, 6-4

5. Jones McNamar (MU) def. VASQUEZ, Andres (ACU) 6-2, 6-0

6. THOMAS, Martin (ACU) def. Armando Lopez (MU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)

Up Next

The next time the Firestorm are on the court for a match will be the start of GSAC action when they host Hope International on March 11 at 12:00 pm.