Bluefield State Athletics
#44 Big Blues Tennis Close Regular Season with Split at Bloomsburg Duals
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – No. 44 Bluefield State completed its regular season with a 5-1 victory over Bloomsburg University (Pa.), the third ranked team in the Atlantic Region, Sunday afternoon. With the win the Big Blues improve to 16-4 while the Huskies dropped to 13-4.
The Big Blues bounced back for the win after losing their Saturday match against no. 24 Queens College (N.Y.) 9-0.
Bluefield State found themselves down 1-0 after a loss in the no. 1 doubles match as Vlad Catlan and Niklas Sparr loss 8-6. However the Big Blues regrouped and gained wins in the no. 2 and no. 3 doubles matches. Shikar Kapur and Pitor Kruk gained an 8-5 win in the no. 2 doubles match followed by an 8-6 win from Guatam Sreeram and Conner Pickering in the no. 3 doubles match.
With a 2-1 lead and needing only three singles wins to claim the match Sreeram took the no. 6 singles match 6-1, 6-1 and Sparr continued his strong play in the no. 5 slot with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
After dropping the first set 6-3, Catlan downed his opponent in the ensuing sets 6-1 and 6-0 to claim the no. 2 singles win and to earn the match win for Bluefield State.
In their first match in the Bloomsburg Duals, the Knights (15-3) got the better of the Big Blues in all the matches. In the no. 1 doubles match, Catlan and Sparr pushed the nationally-ranked no. 12 doubles team to the brink before losing the match 9-8.
In singles play, Kapur battled with the 15th ranked singles player in the country Attila Toth to a three-set thriller. Kapur won the first set 6-1 but dropped the second 6-4 forcing the deciding set where he was narrowly defeated 11-9.
The singles matches featured more close calls for Bluefield State as Pickering lost the no. 4 match to Andre Pellegrino 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 and Sparr lost the no. 5 flight 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).
With their best regular season in program history behind them, the Big Blues will now focus their attention to the postseason where they will begin play in the WVIAC Tournament, Thursday April 19. Their first round opponent will be determined later.
