MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Freshmen John Peers, Chris Nowak and Richard Cowden led the Blue Raiders on Friday night but it was not enough in a 4-3 loss to Michigan State.
Middle Tennessee (0-1) began the night by sweeping doubles to take a 1-0 lead in the match with Michigan State (5-0). Cowden and junior Morgan Richard teamed up for the win in the No. 1 spot defeating Nick Rinks and John Allare 9-8 (5).
Sophomores Marc Rocafort and Joao Paoliello notched the first win of the night winning their match with John Stratton and Billy Gardner 8-4. Peers and Nowak clinched the doubles point in the match with their win over Alex Forger and Adam Monich 9-7.
In singles action, the Spartans proved they would not be an easy team to beat as Rocafort fell to Rinks 7-5, 6-3 to tie the match at one all.
Peers then defeated Forger 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 to give the Blue Raiders a 2-1 advantage. Then Richard fell to Allare 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 while Nowak lost an impressive three set match to Adam Monich 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (11-9) as Michigan State took a 3-2 lead.
"Nowak had match point four times and was just unlucky tonight. He played awesome and I am impressed with the way he performed in his first collegiate match," head coach David McNamara said.
In the No. 5 position Paoliello fell to Scott Rasmussen 6-3, 6-3. To end the match, Cowden defeated Tyler Sauerbrey 7-6 (4), 5-7, 10-8 with the third set ending in a super tiebreaker.
"I'm disappointed with the end result but I am very pleased with the performances of Peers, Nowak and Cowden. Their performances were very impressive for their first collegiate matches. Now we need the older players to step-up and play tennis," McNamara said.
Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. when it faces UT-Chattanooga. Admission to the Racquet Club is free.
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