Boston College men’s tennis has had a rough go of it since conference play started, losing its first four conference matches by a combined score of 25-3, including failing to register a single point from the doubles matches. The Eagles might have had some confidence going into the matchup with Miami, seeing as the Hurricanes were the only ACC team that BC beat last season. Miami had other ideas, though, as it came into the bout much improved and ranked No. 36 in the country—which translated to a comfortable 4-0 dismantling of the Eagles.
BC (4-7, 0-5 Atlantic Coast) hasn’t been able to get off on the right foot in doubles matches in conference play thus far, with the trend continuing, as the second and third pairings lost on Sunday afternoon. The first pairing to suffer defeat was Chris Grasel and Max Palmer, who fell to Dane Dunlap and Stephen Madonia of the Hurricanes (13-4, 5-0) by a decisive 6-2 margin. Dunlap and Madonia have been one of the stronger tandems for a Miami team that’s off to its best start in program history, winning its previous two matches, while Grasel and Palmer were defeated last time out against FSU.
The Hurricanes clinched the doubles point after Franco Aubone and Francisco Batias made quick work of Connor Mullins and Markus Nordby by an identical 6-2 score. This was an expected result, seeing as Aubone and Bastias are undefeated as a pairing this season, going 8-0 in addition to an unfinished match in which they were leading, 5-4. The final doubles matchup, which wasn’t finished, saw BC’s Derek Austin and Sean Mullins put up a strong fight against Miami’s Tatsuki Shimamoto and Adria Soriano Barrera. Austin and Mullins were trailing, 5-4, when the match was stopped.
The singles matches did not go much better for BC, which won only one set the entire afternoon. The lone victory ended up being for naught, however, because Max Mendelsohn did not get to finish his match against the No. 71 player in the nation, Bojan Jankulovski. Mendelsohn won the first set via tiebreaker, 7-6, but was unable to attempt to pull off the upset as his teammates all fell on the other courts.
The rest of the singles matches were unmitigated disasters for the Eagles, who were unable to cope with an overwhelming opponent and the oppressive heat and humidity that was palpable in Coral Gables. Dane Dunlap struck first for Miami, defeating Grasel for the second time that day by a final score of 6-1, 6-3. Stephen Madonia then backed up his doubles partner’s performance with a commanding win of his own, taking down Connor Mullins, 6-2, 6-1.
The match ended when Sean Mullins of BC was defeated by William Grattan-Smith, 6-2, 6-4. After being handled easily in the first set, Mullins showed a lot of resilience, tying the set at three after being down, 3-1. In the end, though, the Hurricanes proved to simply be too much for the Eagles overall.
BC will have a long rest after this disastrous trip down south—the Eagles didn’t register a point against either Florida State or Miami—as their next match isn’t till next Friday, when No. 27 North Carolina State rolls into Chestnut Hill. The Wolfpack has looked strong this year, boasting an 11-6 record and wins in two of its first three conference matches, making the most of a difficult schedule.
Featured Image by Delaney Vorwick / For The Heights
