MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Men's tennis team saw its season come to an end with a 4-0 loss to No. 7 Tennessee in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tennessee.
While the score looks like a clean sweep to the naked eye, the match was anything but easy.
The Tigers and Volunteers (24-6) found themselves locked in a duel for the doubles point as all three matches were tied 5-5 at one point.
Tennessee eventually pulled out a 7-5 victory on court three and then No. 6 duo Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz outlasted No. 29 Pablo Alemany and Charlie Barry in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (9-7), to take the doubles point.
Harry Rock and Conor Gannon were also deadlocked in a tiebreaker on court two at 6-6 (6-6) when the point was clinched.
In singles, the Volunteers doubled their lead from the fourth spot when Diaz swept Rock 6-2, 6-2.
Memphis went on to win the first set in three of the remaining five singles but were unable to capitalize.
Monday, the No. 1 singles player in the country, came from behind to win a tiebreaker in the first set against No. 58 Alemany en route to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory that gave Tennessee a 3-0 advantage.
The Volunteers finished off the match with another comeback at the No. 2 spot as 37th-ranked Shunsuka Mitsui defeated Gannon 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
No. 31 Memphis finished the season 19-7. It was the Tigers 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 12 seasons and marked just the fourth time they've made the second round in program history.
