ST. LEO, Fla. (March 18, 2025) — The Morgan State men's tennis team's spring break trip to Florida got off to a narrow and disappointing start with a 4-3 loss to the St. Leo Lions on Tuesday. Despite a hard-fought effort on the courts of the Saint Leo Tennis Center, the Bears found themselves on the wrong side of a tight scoreline. The match was clearly a closely contested affair, with several individual battles likely going down to the wire, ultimately highlighting the fine margins that separate victory and defeat in collegiate tennis.
St. Leo (11-4, 2-0 Sunshine State Conference) seized an early advantage against Morgan, swiftly claiming the doubles point to set the tone for the match. The Lions' tandem of Vincent Thiel and Dylan Andianaly delivered a decisive 6-0 victory over Morgan's Mikeal Carpenter and Mohamed Ridha Ghettas on court two. Building on this momentum, the team of Luis Iriarte and Eduardo Cohen secured the doubles point outright with a solid 6-3 win against Makkijha Brown and Niles Rachal on court one.
The Lions roared into an early advantage, seizing the first two singles victories to establish a commanding 3-0 lead. Segonia Perez scored a decisive 5-3 victory over Rachal on court 3. Shortly after, Dylan Andrianoly further solidified the Lions' lead, dispatching Makkijha Brown with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win.
The Bears, facing a significant deficit against the Lions, mounted a determined comeback, securing the next two critical victories. Majdi Ben Abdelwah provided a spark of momentum with a decisive 5-2 victory over Luis Iriarte on court 4, displaying a strong and controlled performance. Simultaneously, on court 1, Carpenter engaged in a grueling battle against Vincent Thiel. Ultimately, Carpenter's resilience and strategic play allowed him to prevail with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 win. These consecutive wins significantly narrowed the Lions' lead to 3-2.
On court 6, the match between Kodai Kato of St. Leo and Mohamed Ridha Ghettas proved to be a swift and decisive affair. Kato dominated from the outset and cruised 6-0, 6-1, to seal the overall victory for St. Leo.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
