LONGVIEW - The LeTourneau YellowJacket men's tennis team returned home on Monday afternoon as they welcomed in the Mississippi College Choctaws for American Southwest Conference action. The Choctaws took advantage of the doubles point to pull away and defeat LeTourneau 6-3.
The Choctaws were able to set the tone, winning all three doubles matches for a 3-0 lead early on.
The Jackets then fell behind 4-0 after dropping their first single match, but would not go down without a fight. Senior Carlos Cantu was able to defeat Chris Wootton by score of 6-4, 6-2, controlling the match in the second set.
Freshman Laird Beaty went to work in an epic match at No. 2 singles. He dominated the first set, going up 4-1 on his opponent and cruised to a 6-3 first set victory. Christian Branning responded with a 6-3 to force a third set. Beaty finished things off by breaking Branning at the 4-3 point and finished things off with a 6-3 win.
However, the Choctaws were able to clinch the match and pick up the huge victory. After losing his first set 6-2, junior Josh Bailey responded by winning 7-5 and 10-6 to pick up the Jackets third point of the match.
LeTourneau falls to 12-5 on the season and 1-2 in the American Southwest Conference. They will have to climb an uphill battle for a shot at the postseason. The Jackets will be back in action on Friday as they will take on Hendrix College in a non-conference battle. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
