Survivor

It wasn't particularly pretty, but the top-ranked Armstrong men's tennis team survived a game effort from No. 25 Queens (NY) in doubles play, pushing the Pirates to the brink before succumbing, 5-0, in the Round of 16.

No. 3 doubles found themselves in a huge 5-2 hole, but Eudaldo Bonet and Matus Mydla came up with a big comeback to win, 8-6, for the first doubles point.

At No. 1 doubles, Georgi Rumenov and Mikk Irdoja dropped a key break midway through the match, but rallied to force a tiebreak and each player came up with huge shots in the tiebreak for the 9-8 (7-4) win. Particularly huge was a passing backhand shot by Mikk at 4-3 that gave the Pirates the cushion to then come away with the victory.

No. 2 doubles saw a huge service game by Pedro Scocuglia at 8-7 up to put away a 9-7 win with Sven Lalic.

Daniel Regan, coming into the lineup so that Irdoja could rest, picking up a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles. Matus then finished things off with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles.

Next up for the Pirates is No. 6 Hawaii Pacific, who beat Shaw, 5-0, on Wednedsay. That will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the EP Tom Sawyer State Park.

This one's for you, Dan!