FLORENCE, S.C. – The Converse University men's tennis team gave it their all on Friday afternoon against Mount Olive but came up on the wrong side of a 4-3 score to be eliminated from the Conference Carolinas Championships Tournament.
In just their second season as a collegiate program Converse qualified for the conference tournament for a second year in a row. Last season, they won their opening round match and they looked to do the same on Friday afternoon.
In doubles action the Valkyries top tandem of
Marty Letessier and
Leopold Morel fell 6-2 to give Mount Olive the early edge. The Valkyries No. 2 doubles pairing of
Enzo Marcheschi and
Merlin Bellet evened up the doubles point following a 6-2 win. The doubles point came down to the third and final doubles courts. The Valkyries No. 3 tandem of
Paul Berrouet and
Gregoire Legrand came up just short following a 7-5 loss.
Trailing 1-0 going into singles action, the Valkyries picked up an early win at the No. 1 singles court as the Mount Olive player had to retire against Bellet. Converse took a 2-1 advantage after Berrouet won at the No. 3 singles court in straight sets. The match was once again tied after Marcheschi fell at the No. 4 singles court, but Letessier put the Valkyries ahead with a straight sets win at the No. 5 singles flight.
The match came down to the final two singles courts at the No.2 and the No.6 flights. Legrand fell in the opening set 6-1 at the No. 2 singles court but battled back in the second set to win 7-5. In the third and final set, Legrand fell 6-0 and the match was once again tied between Converse and Mount Olive. At the final court, Morel had to battle back after losing the opening set 6-4. In the second set, Morel won easily 6-1 and forced a winner-take-all third set. Morel fell in the final set 6-2 to give the Trojans the win and for the second straight season Mount Olive eliminated Converse from the tournament.
This concludes the 2022-23 men's tennis season. For more information on the Converse University tennis team log onto
govalkyries.com today.
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