Emporia State Men's Tennis Falls 5-2 at #21 Harding

April 23, 2025-In a dual that saw four singles matches go to a third set and the doubles point decided in a tiebreaker, Emporia State fell 5-2 at #21 Harding on Wednesday in Searcy, Ark.
 
Doubles started with the Bisons #23 doubles team of Cas de Ruiter and Adrian Solorzano taking a 6-3 win over the Hornets #36 team of Alexis Mattenberger and Gwendal Mazuay. Hachem Fahem and Roko Kacer evened the doubles for Emporia State with a 6-3 win at #3 over Edoardo D'Arrigo and Caleb Folse.  The deciding match for doubles came down to a tie breakser with Florian Gayme and Cian Mikkelsen winning 7-6 (7-5) over Anton Sarunic and Luke West to give Harding a 1-0 lead.
 
Kacer got the Hornets on the board with a 7-5, 7-5 win over D'Arrigo at #6 before Luis Agullo defeated Duvan Santiago Torres 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) at #5 to put the Bisons up 2-1.  The final four singles matches all went to a third set. Solorzano, who is ranked #24 nationally, defeated Mostafa Elbasnaly 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at #2 to give Harding a 3-1 lead and Mikkelsen clinched the match for HU with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win over Mattenberger at the #3 spot.
 
The #1 singles match featured a pair of nationally ranked players and saw two of the three sets go to a tiebreaker.  The Bisons de Ruiter, who is ranked #10, prevailed with a 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-1) win over the Hornets Sarunic, who is ranked #22 in the nation.  Diego Calvo finished the dual for Emporia State with a come from behind 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win at #4 singles.
 
Emporia State will be back in action on Friday, April 25 for their Senior Day dual with Ark.-Fort Smith.  First serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Kossover Family Tennis Center and it will be the final home matches for seniors Harrison Kossover and Hachem Fahem.