ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - The Rhodes Men travelled to Orange Beach, AL for Spring Break and came away with their second consecutive win against LeTourneau University at the Orange Beach Tennis Center.  

The Lynx played well and are looking strong in preparation for conference play resuming in the next couple of weeks to close out the season.  Doubles has been a point of emphasis this whole season as the Lynx have started slow to begin the match in their two spring losses, dropping two points last week to Christopher Newport University, and all three doubles points agains Methodist.  

"I was really proud of our guys," said Coach Dodd.  "We have been hammering home how important doubles points are to our success, and the advantage proved to be the difference today going into singles."
 
Rhodes gained a 2-1 lead going into singles competition by taking Line two and Line three doubles points.  Vacheron and Olivier did not disappoint once again falling behind to LeTourneau on the third court 7-6 with the 'Jackets serving to close out the match.  The freshman tandem broke LeTourneau's serve to tie the match at seven, Vacheron held serve to transition into the changeover up 8-7, and they closed out the match by breaking once again.  

"Those guys fought hard," according to Dodd.  "The odds were stacked against them and they broke twice to close out the match.  That's a sign of true mental toughness."
 
Rhodes closed out the match quickly winning decisively at the bottom half of the order.  Lew, Olivier, and Sowden have been staples for the Lynx and singles recently and claimed straight set victories in each of their matches.  Vacheron fought back from a 6-1 first set blemish to claim the second 6-3.  

With a 9-6 lead in the Super-Tiebreaker, Vacheron had trouble closing out the final point and lost 11-9.  Brilliant jumped out to a 4-1 lead at 3rd singles, but could not hold the lead, dropping a 6-4, 6-1 decision.  Blatt lost a tough tiebreaker in the first 7-6 (7-2), but played some of his best tennis in the second set, claiming it 6-3.  In the match tiebreaker, Blatt jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning 10-6 in the final match of the day.
 
The Lynx are back in action tomorrow against Mississippi College at 12 p.m. at the Orange Beach Tennis Center.
 
 
Rhodes College 6, LaTourneau University 3
March 9, 2014
Orange Beach, AL
Orange Beach Tennis Center
 
Singles Competition
 
Eliot Blatt (RC) def. Kendall Beggs (LTU) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
Laird Beaty (LTU) def. Albert Vacheron (RC) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Sindre Johnsgaard (LTU) def. Greyson Brilliant (RC) 6-4, 6-1
Trevor Lew (RC) def. Michael McLaughlin (LTU) 6-1, 6-1
Daniel Olivier (RC) def. Morgan Weaver (LTU) 6-1, 6-2
Graham Sowden (RC) def. Ty Grove (LTU) 6-2, 6-4
 
Doubles Competition
 
Beggs/Beaty (LTU) def. Blatt/Lew (RC) 8-3
Sowden/Brilliant (RC) def. Johnsgaard/Weaver (LTU) 8-3
Olivier/Vacheron (RC) def. McLaughlin/Grove (LTU) 9-7
 
Match Notes
 
Rhodes College 4-3; #13 Regional Ranking
LeTourneau University; 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3) Singles (4, 5, 6, 2, 3, 1)