The Florida A&M men’s tennis team defeated Lamar University 6-1 Monday afternoon at the FAMU Tennis Complex.
The victory gave the Rattlers their 10th of the season. Head coach Carl Goodman said he was very impressed with his team’s performance.
“This was one of the boys’ finer days, and they played like they were ranked number 69 in the nation,” Goodman said. “This is the second-best performance of the year as a team.”
In singles one, Salif Kante defeated Denis Ermilov 6-0, 6-3. In singles two, Levan Clark defeated Robert Lee 6-0, 6-3. Takura Happy claimed singles three 6-1, 6-2 over Marton Horvath. Chidi Gabriel defeated Carlos Valdenebro 6-3, 6-1 in singles four. Temuera Asafu-Ajaye defeated Bruno Snyder 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 in singles five.
Lamar claimed its only victory in singles competition during singles six when Mikko Rajamaki defeated Fabrice Myrtil 6-1, 6-2.
In doubles competition, FAMU claimed two of the three matches.
Goodman said this win has prepared the team for upcoming matches against other great teams. He said he believes the team will come out on top if they perform the same way they did against Lamar.
“What we expect is consistency in play and mentally staying sharp as we close out the matches,” he said. “We want to get stronger physically and mentally at the end of every match.”
Clark said he was impressed with the level of strength the team displayed during the match, especially because the team played three matches. He said maintaining energy was a significant accomplishment.
“This is our third match in a row, and we could have easily been tired, but we fought through it and ended up with a win,” Clark said. “We all played well in our singles and doubles.”
Teammate Myrtil said the team pulled out the win because it was focused and driven during the match.
“I felt our team did well and was really focused throughout the entire match,” Myrtil said. “Lamar is a good team, but we took care of business. So the match wasn’t very hard.”
Myrtil added, “I did my best in this match, and I expect to do the same in our next games. I also expect for my team to bring it too.”
FAMU will take on North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore and Georgia State next weekend, which Goodman describes as FAMU’s biggest challenge.
“This weekend, we have another three matches to mimic the conference tournament,” Goodman said. “In addition, Georgia State is a great test for our final match.”