Middle Tennessee State 7, Chattanooga 0
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped its spring season opener at Middle Tennessee this afternoon. The Mocs were swept 7-0 by the 50th-ranked Blue Raiders in the first dual match of the year for both teams.
Chattanooga dropped all three doubles matches and could not get things going in singles play. Junior Pavels Grigorjevs opened with a 6-2 win in the first set against Ettore Zito at No. 2, but eventually fell in three (2-6, 6-2, 6-3).
Sophomore Gino Delavalle also won his first set, post a 6-3 advantage against Victor Hoang at No. 4. Delavalle also went on to lose in three sets.
The Mocs are back home next weekend, hosting Tennessee Tech at the Hixson Racquet Club on Saturday, Jan. 25.
Florida A&M 7, The Citadel 0
Florida State 7, The Citadel 0
Tallahassee, Fla. – The Citadel tennis team fell by scores of 7-0 in its doubleheader Saturday against Florida State and Florida A&M at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center.
Florida A&M went up early in the match, claiming the doubles point with victories in the No. 1 and 3 positions. The Bulldog duo of Peter Bleach and Jackson Pride netted their first doubles win in the No. 2 slot over the Rattler's August Waitman and Matt Evans, 6-3.
Pride went to three sets against Florida A&M's Roberto Ortiz at No. 4 singles, but fell 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
Head Coach Chuck Kriese was pleased with the improvement he saw in his team since last weekend's competition.
"We are making progress and getting up to racing speed," said Kriese. "The team is coming along really well; they didn't back down from anyone. We are looking forward to playing the Gamecocks tomorrow."
The Bulldogs take on No. 18 South Carolina tomorrow at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center at 4 p.m.
Yale 5, Davidson 2
BLACKSBURG, Va. — The Davidson men’s tennis team opened their Spring season against nationally-ranked Yale and came out on the wrong end of a 5-2 decision in their spring opener Saturday morning at Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center on the campus of Virginia Tech.
The Wildcats were playing Yale (1-0) for the first time, as the Bulldogs came in ranked 59th to start the year in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) top-75 poll.
Yale opened the match by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2 positions. The duo of Zack Zapatero and Ethan Kallick scored four games in their match at No. 1, but fell 6-4 allowing Yale to seal the doubles point.
Senior Connor Evins and sophomore Evan Watkins earned the two team points for the Wildcats. Evins opened his final year with a three-set victory at No. 3 singles. After falling 6-3 in his first set, Evins came back to net a pair of 6-4 decisions to earn his 22nd career singles wins.
Watkins saw his first collegiate action in a match by winning 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 after Kyle Dawson of Yale retired at No. 4 singles.
Joining Zapatero and Watkins in their first collegiate matches was freshman Jordan Hart. The first-year player fell 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6 singles, and teamed with Alex Howard at No. 3 doubles, having their match halted at 5-4 after Yale took the doubles point.
Davidson stays in Blacksburg, Va., and will play its second straight ranked opponent, facing No. 38 Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
NC State 7, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s tennis team fell to No. 35 NC State, 7-0, Saturday afternoon at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
The Spartans sit at 0-2 on the season while the Wolfpack improve to 1-0.
College tennis teams across the country will be playing with an experimental scoring system in January and February. As always, teams will be vying for four team points, but the match scoring will be a little different. The three doubles matches to start the contest will be played as six-game sets, instead of eight-game sets. Matches will feature no-ad scoring and a tiebreaker if it is tied at 5-5. The team that wins two of the three doubles matches wins one team point. Six singles matches will then be played, each worth one team point. Matches will be best-of-three sets with no-ad scoring. Rules will return to NCAA format after the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February.
The Spartans and Wolfpack played to these experimental rules as NC State won all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the match. At No. 3 doubles, Austin Powell and Beck Bond defeated freshman Nazhone Wilkins and senior Jimmy Roueche, 6-2.
At No. 2 doubles, Ian Dempster and Robbie Mudge took down sophomore Daniel Mack and senior Ahmet Sarioglu, 6-2. In the final doubles match, sophomore James Dougherty and junior Randy Phillips pushed the No. 19 ranked doubles team to the brink but fell just short to Nick Horton and Sean Weber, 6-5 (7-5), in a close tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles.
NC State continued its strong play in singles after Mudge, ranked No. 76 in the nation, won in straight sets against Phillips, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Austin Powell (No. 50) made it 3-0 overall with a 6-2, 6-4, victory against Dougherty at No. 2 singles.
Nick Horton, ranked No. 83 nationally, clinched the match with a straight sets win against Mack, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. Sarioglu battled at No. 1 singles but lost in straight sets to No. 82 Thomas Weigel, 6-4, 6-5 (7-5).
Junior Cameron Smith fell in straight sets to Beck Bond, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. Sophomore Gaston Murray finished the match falling to Sean Weber, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.
UNCG doesn’t return to the court until Feb. 8 when they host North Carolina Central at the UNCG Tennis Courts at Noon.