Babson Park, Fla. – In an epic seven hour marathon, on the WIU Campus Courts in Babson Park, the Warriors of Webber International University dropped a 5-4 decision to Lindenwood University (MO).
Lindenwood is ranked 17th and Webber 18th in the NAIA National Rankings.
“This was one of the greatest matches ever played on these courts, and we have had many through the years, but the end result is not what we were looking for,” stated WIU Coach,
Bill Heath.
The Warriors won two of the three doubles to open with a 2-1 lead. The Warriors #3 team won 8-2 with the pair of Juuso Tapaneinen and Thaigo Marion. At #2 doubles Rafael Teixeira and Joonas Jalkenen won 8-5.
Winning in singles for Webber was #3 Juuso Tapanein 7-6, 6-1 and #4 Caio Cardoso 6-4, 6-2.
Webber was leading the #5 and #6 singles matches still on court. Unfortunately the Warriors lost both of those matches in third set tiebreakers.
“We were up 6-5 in the third set of both matches and they both ended up going to tiebreakers which we could not pull out,” stated Heath. “This is the first time in my career that I can remember losing two breakers to decide a match,” added Heath.
This match concluded the regular season for the Warriors. Their 15-6 record makes 2010 the 19th consecutive winning season for the Webber men's tennis team. Their next action will be in The Sun Conference Tournament in April. WIU is seeded third in the tournament.
