Middle Tennessee men’s tennis started off strong in its first fall tournament.  

The Blue Raiders dominated the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in doubles play with wins by Britan Duran and Antoine Mayoral, and Eric Crivei and Rich LaLance. MTSU swept the Mocs in singles, not losing a set.  

On Saturday, the Blue Raiders stumbled out of the gate, struggling to find consistency in a match that highlighted some growing pains for some of the new faces on the team.  

Crivei and LaLance started out with a 6-2 doubles win over Lipscomb, however Duran and Mayoral lost 7-5. Singles on Saturday were a complete 180 for the Blue Raiders with all four players losing their matches in three sets.  

“Today was rough, it was a little ugly. Lost all four, three setters, but I mean yeah it’s the first fall tournament,” head coach Jimmy Borendame said. 

Though with two transfers and two freshmen playing today, the challenges weren’t unexpected.  

“I purposely tried to do some local teams, so, you know we can squeeze matches in and adjust if the weather is bad and just to get a couple matches under the belt.” Borendame said.  

The Blue Raiders attitude was the biggest improvement between Saturday and Sunday, Borendame said.  MTSU won three singles matches with Mayoral winning in three sets just a day after losing in the same fashion.  

 “I talked to them yesterday about their attitudes, because I thought it was too much up and down, a little volatility,” Borendame said. “It was a little bit better today. I told them that their grade yesterday was a D and today was a D+. Tennis is a roller coaster; you’re not going to win every point.”  

Middle Tennessee will host a second fall tournament starting Oct. 3 with the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University and Indiana University coming to Murfreesboro.  

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