OMAHA, Neb. – The Creighton men’s tennis team used a dominate doubles performance and strong late match singles play to propel the Bluejays to a 5-2 victory over Air Force on Saturday night at the Hanscom Tennis Center.
With the win the Bluejays improved to 2-1 on the year, while the Falcons fell to 0-2 on the season.
Creighton cruised to take a 1-0 lead in the match with victories at the top two doubles positions. Senior Matthew Lanahan and sophomore Kirtan Patel claimed a quick 6-2 win at the top doubles position, while senior Shin Inoue and sophomore Zachary Kuo captured an identical 6-2 triumph on court No. 2. Junior Alejandro Gandini and sophomore Yuma Daijima also lead 5-2 on court No. 3 before the match went unfinished.
In singles play, Air Force’s Phillip Deaton would level the match with a straight-sets victory at the top singles position before Creighton would clinch the overall duel with wins at the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 positions.
Gandini gave the Bluejays a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at the No. 4 position, while Kuo followed closely behind with a 6-1, 6-4 straight-sets win on the No. 3 court to give Creighton a 3-1 lead.
Patel would then clinch the match for the Bluejays with a pair of identical 7-6 victories on court No. 2. After battling in an hour long 7-6 first set victory, Patel overcame a 5-2 deficit in set two to capture the match for the Bluejays with a 7-6 tiebreaking win over Arjun Kersten.
With the match already in hand, the Bluejays got an extra boost of energy when Daijima pulled out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 triumph over Kyle Garner on the No. 6 singles court.
Air Force, however, would close the match strong, earning a three-set victory on court No. 5.
The Bluejays continue play tomorrow night as they make a return trip to Lincoln to battle the Huskers at 5 p.m. on Sunday night.