No. 15 New College of Florida saw its incredible inaugural season come to an end Tuesday with a 4-3 loss to No. 18 Arizona Christian in the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship Opening Round at the Mobile Tennis Center.
The nearly two-hour thriller saw Arizona Christian claim the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3.
Carlos Quinones and
Timothy Phung fell 6-1 at No. 2, while
Patrick Janikian and
Hugo Fidler were defeated 7-5 at No. 3.
In singles, New College responded with three victories.
Phung earned a win at No. 1, defeating Hugo Abril 6-2, 7-6. Quinones added a three-set victory at No. 2, taking the match 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
Hugo Fidler delivered a dominant straight-set performance at No. 3 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
The Firestorm secured the remaining singles matches to clinch the team result.
Kukaras lost a thriller at No. 4 6-4, 6-7, 7-3, 6-4.
Pedro Lemos dropped a three-set match at No. 5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, while Janikian fell 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6.
New College finishes the season with a 9-9 overall record, a 5-2 Sun Conference record, which was good for third-place and having reached the NAIA National Championship Opening Round in the program's inaugural season.
