After losing two consecutive matches in a row, DePaul's men's tennis team bounced back with a strong win over Iowa. The No. 73 ranked Blue Demons overcame a 3-0 deficit to edge out the match 4-3, dropping Iowa to a record of 1-4.
"Obviously, we were very pleased," said Head Coach Matt Brothers. "We stopped the bleeding, if you will, and pulled off a good win, which is good for the guys' confidence."
Iowa started strong with a sweep in doubles play by scores of 8-4, 8-7 and 8-5. To make matters worse, the Hawkeyes continued to build momentum in singles play. Josh Dancu and Adam Reinhart each suffered losses on courts five and six, making it seem likely the team would drop three straight.
However, it was Philip Dzanko's win that started an incredible run for the Blue Demons. Dzanko dominated Iowa's Jonas Direckx in two straight sets (6-0, 6-3) to give DePaul their first point on the board.
Sven Kasper and Mathias Hambach were able to build off of Dzanko's victory by each winning their own matches, even with both players losing their first set.
Kasper defeated Matt Hagan by scores of 3-6, 6-4 and 6-2 and Hambach defeated Tom Mroziewicz by scores of 4-6, 6-1 and 6-0. The two victories tied up the event, leaving it all up to George Chanturia to try and bring home the win.
Chanturia, a senior, faced off against Will Vasos in the final match of the evening. Knowing all the pressure that was involved, Chanturia was eager to prove his worth.
"We just kept fighting and at the end of the match, it turned around," Chanturia explained. "I was actually looking forward to being in that situation. It's something that has not happened to me very often. When the moment came, I'm happy the way I handled it."
It was the second opportunity for Chanturia in his collegiate career to earn the game-tying point. As a freshman at Oklahoma, Chanturia faced the same odds in a match where he lost 7-5 in the final set. However, Chanturia claims that an injury prevented him from playing at 100 percent.
He had a shot at redemption here.
The first set was competitive with Chanturia narrowly taking it 7-5. Although it was Vasos who came back strong and took the second set 6-2. With one final set at stake, each school cheered desperately for their respective teammate to pull out the win.
For Brothers, he knew that a victory was never out of sight with Chanturia still playing.
"He's an accomplished player and he's been in that situation before, which helps. I never doubted him," he said.
Brothers was right. In the third set, George Chanturia made the unbelievable comeback official by winning 6-2. The win put DePaul men's tennis 6-3 for the year as they head towards Minnesota to play against Arizona Feb. 10.
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