MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Mississippi College men's tennis team faced off against Auburn University at Montgomery ion Thursday afternoon, falling to AUM by a final of 4-0 in the quarterfinals.
In the doubles matches, MC's duo of Felipe Iser and Rafael Sabio fought hard but ultimately fell to AUM's Joao Guariente and Giuseppe Bonaiuti 6-3 in the first match. The Choctaws' Hsiang Yi Wang and Alvaro Saint Martin also fell short in their match, losing 6-1 to AUM's Muhamad Bedwan and Adrian Contreras. However, MC's Joe Jarvis and Antoine Nivault claimed a win by default in the third doubles match.
Moving on to singles play, Sabio battled hard but fell at No. 2 singles to Bedwan in a tight match, 7-6, 6-2. Nivault came up short at No. 4 singles, with Contreras winning in a tiebreaker, 7-6, 5-3.
Unfortunately, MC's season came to a close after finishing with a record of 10-9 overall and 4-5 in Gulf South Conference play. However, the team had several standout performances throughout the season, including freshman Rafael Sabio, who was named the GSC Freshman of the Year after an impressive debut season under first-year head coach Michael Ward. Additionally, Sabio and Jarvis were named to the GSC All-Second Team.
Looking ahead to next season, the Choctaws can be proud of their season and look forward to building on their success. Despite falling short in the doubles portion of the match against AUM, the team's strong showing in singles play shows that they have the talent and determination to compete at a high level. With the leadership of Coach Ward and the continued growth of players like Sabio and Jarvis, the future looks bright for Mississippi College men's tennis.
