Lane Battles at Top Singles Flight in Loss to No. 20 Grace
UPLAND, Ind. – Freshman Tyler Lane pushed Grace's No. 1 singles player to a match tiebreak, but No. 20 Grace proved too deep across the lineup in a 7-0 Crossroads League victory over Taylor on Tuesday afternoon at Taylor Tennis Complex.
Taylor (3-6, 0-2 CL) faced a ranked opponent for the second time in four days as it continues the early portion of its Crossroads League schedule. Grace (7-5, 2-0 CL) claimed all three doubles matches and all six singles flights to remain unbeaten in conference play.
Graham Beukelman and Lane made it competitive at No. 1 doubles, falling 7-5 to Mahefa Rakotomalala and Benjamin Rahine. Grace's Andreas Polichronopoulos and Manuel Marques claimed a 6-2 win over Joseph Harper and Matthew Williams at No. 2, while Aurelien Coan and Stergios Papadoloulos defeated Ian Helfert and Andrew Roth by the same score at No. 3 to secure the doubles point.
Lane provided the Trojans' strongest showing of the afternoon at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set 6-4 to Polichronopoulos, Lane battled back to take the second set 6-4 and force a match tiebreak — the only Taylor player to win a set on the day. Polichronopoulos pulled away in the tiebreak, however, closing out the match 10-2.
In the remaining five singles flights, Rahine defeated Harper 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2, while Coan topped Beukelman 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 and Marques claimed a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Helfert at No. 4. Rakotomalala and Papadoloulos each posted 6-0, 6-0 wins at No. 5 and No. 6 against Josh Clegg and Williams, respectively.
Taylor returns to action Saturday when it hosts receiving-votes Goshen at 11 a.m. ET.
