OMAHA, Neb. -
Oral Roberts University fought hard but was narrowly defeated by
Omaha, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon. Fabian Zierleyn led the way with victories in both
his singles and doubles matches, running his record at No. 1
singles to 4-3.
The loss drops ORU to 0-8 as a club, while the Mavericks improve to
3-3.
Omaha scored a crucial point by winning two of three doubles
matches. Carlos Ramos Salazar and Conner Tieszen won the top
flight, 8-4, over Jason Mechali and Pedro Moreno, while on court three, Connor Larson
teamed with Matt Frost for an 8-6 victory over Parker Allen and Braxton Bates.
ORU's lone doubles win came on court two, where Zierleyn teamed
with Nathaniel Avery for an 8-7 (7-1) triumph over Eric
McKnight and Erik Anderson.
ORU scored victories on the top two singles courts. Zierleyn
rallied to top Tieszen, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, for a win in the top flight,
and Mechali blasted McKnight, 6-3, 6-2, on the second court.
The Mavericks got a point back on court three, where Larson dropped
Moreno, 6-3, 6-3, but Allen was victorious in the fourth flight,
6-2, 6-2, over Ramos.
Omaha needed wins on the bottom two courts, and they got them. John
Ellis won in the fifth flight, a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Avery, and
Frost edged Bates by a 6-3, 6-2 count.
The Golden Eagles will finish off their road trip on Sunday
afternoon, when they face Kansas City.