Match Results
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- The Detroit Titans took on Cleveland State in the Horizon League opener Friday evening at the Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield but three singles wins were not enough as the Vikings were able to post a 4-3 victory.
The doubles portion of the night started the battle and it was contested right until the end. Although Detroit's (5-10, 0-1 Horizon League) lone win came from the No. 3 grouping of
Pablo Nunez and
Jay Joshi, both of the other pairings were in back-and-forth affairs but could not hold on for the wins over Cleveland State (6-7, 1-0 HL).
No. 2 doubles saw
Alex Latosinsky and
David Stabley leading by a 6-5 score but a couple of closely played balls and they ended up falling 8-6.
Mike Basha and
Chris Cheung were in the No. 1 doubles position and forced the second tiebreaker, of the three doubles matches, to decide the doubles point. This came after the two tied the match at 6-6, 7-7 and again at 8-8 but the final draw would see the Vikings emerge on top with a 7-4 breaker. The loss for Basha and Cheung was just the second since the two were paired up eight matches ago as they have combined for a 7-2 mark to lead the team.
In singles, Nunez, Basha and
Cesar Escobar Serrano were all able to win their matches and account for the three points for Detroit.
Nunez won in straight sets in the No. 5 hole while Basha and Serrano both needed a third and final set to decide the fate of the match. Basha played at No. 4 singles and ended up winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 while Serrano recorded a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the No. 3 position.
Serrano's singles win gives him 10 in the spring, over just four losses, to lead the team. It also marked his fifth straight victory and he has not lost two or more straight matches since opening dual-match play with three defeats. Serrano had a career-best 11 wins in his freshman year of 2009-10 in a campaign that finished with him earning All-Conference second team honors.
The next match for the men will be tomorrow evening as they will host Youngstown State at the Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield as part of a doubleheader with the women's team. All matches are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.
