Williamsburg, KY – The 25
th-ranked UC men's tennis swept the three doubles matches en route to a 7-2 win over Young Harris in their home opener Saturday afternoon at the UC Tennis Court. With the win the Patriots improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Mountain Lions fall to 0-2.
The Patriots struck first in the match as Anthony Kwok and
Jan Dietrich defeated Kash Reddiyar and Ruben Gonzalez 8-3 at #2 doubles. At #1 doubles,
Martin Barbier and
Eric Banoub jumped out to an earlier lead however Javier Villar and Herman Ronnberg rallied to take a 6-5 lead. Barbier and Banoub took the final three sets to win the point 8-6 and extend UC's lead to 2-0.
Aatu Merenheimo and
Luis Montull notched their first doubles win of the season with a 9-8 win at #3 doubles.
Leading 3-0 heading into singles play, Dietrich recorded a 6-4, 6-1 win over Diego Ravelo at #6 singles to extend the lead to 4-0. Banoub followed at #5 singles with a 6-4, 6-1 win to clinch the match for Cumberlands. Young Harris got on the board with a straight set win at the #1 position and a three set win at #3 to cut the lead to 5-2.
Barbier's strong start to the season continues as he posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over Ruben Gonzalez at #2 singles. In the final match of the day,
Sjoerd Nijssen defeated Romeo Luque 8-1 for the 7-2 final.
The Patriots will return to the court Wednesday, February 27, when they travel to Barbourville, KY to face rival Union. The match is slated for a 2 p.m. first serve.
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