Emporia State’s Julian Rios could tell that people were getting quite a kick out of his No. 1 singles match with Southwest Baptist’s Alex Kacamakis.
After every point, it seemed one of the players would scream out in anger.
Neither were speaking English, either.
“It’s very funny when you see foreign players and they yell in their own language,” said Rios, a native of Bogota, Colombia. “You don’t know what’s happening, but you can see their frustration.”
Though both players wore their emotions on their sleeves, it was 36th-ranked Kacamakis — originally from Budapest, Hungary — who ended up prevailing in a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) decision.
Still, Rios wasn’t too upset with his performance, especially considering he was blown out by the same opponent last year.
“I was proud of myself,” Rios said. “I went in with a little bit of respect, but as the match went on, I got confident and I just kept hitting my shots. It ended up being a good match. It was very close.
“Today it was him, and maybe tomorrow, it will be me.”
Rios’ match was one of the closest of the day for the ESU men, as they were swept 9-0 by the Bearcats.
SBU came in as the top team in the conference and also the 23rd-ranked team in the nation.
“The problem is we got better, but they got a lot better,” ESU coach John Cayton said. “They’re kind of the New York Yankees of the MIAA men’s tennis. They’ve got a really highly skilled team, and we knew we were in for a really tough day today.”
On the women’s side, ESU fell 5-4 to SBU after getting off to a slow start.
All week, Cayton had emphasized to his team the importance of winning doubles matches.
That ended up being the Lady Hornets’ downfall, as they had just one doubles victory to move into an early 1-2 hole.
“It was different because usually we get at least two matches, and sometimes all three,” ESU senior Marcela Bayon said. “Our doubles game is very good, so we were surprised that their doubles were that good.”
Bayon and Villaflor came through with three of ESU’s four victories.
The pair combined for an 8-4 victory at No. 1 doubles before breaking off to take singles wins.
Bayon bounced back from a loss on Wednesday to take a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles over Jolee Cook.
“(Marcela’s) beaten her before, and I think she mentally goes into it knowing that,” Cayton said, “She had the confidence at the start of the match to know exactly how to play her.”
Villaflor added a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Chelsey Janzen at No. 2 singles.
No. 5 player Audrey Sherman had the other win, taking a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Jenna Hendrickson.
“Right now we’ve got two or three that are focusing in,” Cayton said, “and two or three that need to kind of step it up for us to play solid as a team.”
The ESU women (9-2, 2-2 MIAA) will play again at 2 p.m. today against Nebraska-Omaha at the Milton Courts.
ESU’s men (7-4, 0-2 MIAA) play host to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday.
Friday at EHS Courts
No. 23 SW Baptist men 9, Emporia State 0
Singles
1. Alex Kacamakis (SBU) def. Julian Rios (ESU), 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)
2. Marton Zsiga (SBU) def. Kent Grossling (ESU), 6-1, 6-1
3. Emilio Elalabi (SBU) def. Nathan Mai (ESU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Agustin Mollar (SBU) def. Kevin Schoon (ESU), 6-0, 6-1
5. Daniel Prerad (SBU) def. Eric Sparks (ESU), 6-0, 6-0
6. Micah Aubuchon (SBU) def. Grant Price (ESU), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Prerad/Elalabi (SBU) def. Rios/Grossling (ESU), 8-5
2. Kacamakis/Zsiga (SBU) def. Mai/Schoon (ESU), 9-7
3. Mollar/Aubuchon (SBU) def. Sparks/Price (ESU), 8-5
Records — SW Baptist 8-3, 2-0 MIAA; Emporia State 7-4, 0-2 MIAA.
Southwest Baptist women 5, Emporia State 4
Singles
1. Marcela Bayon (ESU) def. Jolee Cook (SBU), 6-2, 6-2
2. Natalie Villaflor (ESU) def. Chelsey Janzen (SBU), 6-1, 6-1
3. Iveta Wolfgramm (SBU) def. Amanda Morris (ESU), 6-1, 6-1
4. Johanna Olsson (SBU) def. Molly Bowman (ESU), 6-2, 6-0
5. Audrey Sherman (ESU) def. Jenna Hendrickson (SBU), 6-1, 7-5
6. Trish Moceo (SBU) def. Stacia Whittecar (ESU), 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
1. Bayon/Villaflor (ESU) def. Janzen/Cook (SBU), 8-4
2. Wolfgramm/Olsson (SBU) def. Bowman/Kirsten Ford (ESU), 8-0
3. Stephanie Aug/Moceo (SBU) def. Morris/Sherman (ESU), 8-6
Records — Southwest Baptist 9-6, 2-1 MIAA; Emporia State 9-2, 2-2 MIAA. Att — 35.