Owensboro, KY – #13 Cumberlands men's tennis program put everyone in the Mid-South on notice Saturday evening that they are a contender as the notched a pair of wins over ranked opponents to capture the MSC Fall Invitational Saturday night. After sweeping Shawnee State in round one, the Patriots defeated #23 Cumberland 4-1 before knocking off the top-seed and NAIA fourth-ranked Lindsey Wilson 4-2 to improve their overall record to 3-0.
Doubles play against Cumberland looked similar to that of what UC saw on Friday against Shawnee State as the Patriots won all three of their matches. The #1 doubles matchup was the closest of the trio of contests with Cumberlands still coming out victorious.
Martin Barbier and
Eric Banoub found themselves in a tight match against Hugues N'Goma and Jackson Vaughan but they were too much to handle as UC's top duo won 6-4.
Luis Montull and Christian De La Fuente Nodado made quick work of their counterpart, German Suarez and Felipe Coelho Ferreira, winning 6-0 to clinch the doubles point and give UC a 1-0 lead. At #3 doubles
Martin Muller and Robert Wu-Hung Ju were leading Adrijan Hrzic and Dan Slapnik Trost 5-3 when play was halted due to the Patriots already winning the point.
The Patriots extended their lead to 2-0 as Barbier opened singles play with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Hugues N'Goma at #1 singles. Muller followed at #2 singles claiming a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hrzic to extend Cumberlands lead to 3-0. Cumberland posted a straight set win at #4 singles, however Robert Wu-Hung Ju clinched the win for the Patriots with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at #6 singles as UC advanced to the championship match. Montull and Villertorte both won the second set of their respective matches to force a tiebreaker, however, those matches went unfinished.
In the finals against Lindsey Wilson, Banoub and Barbier started things off, matching up with Steven Espinoza and Nicolas Torrealba and taking the 6-2 win. The Patriots' top tandem lost to Lindsey Wilson last season on April 1, 2021 so this victory served as revenge here in the two team's first meeting of the new campaign.
Lindsey Wilson rebounded after dropping the first doubles match as they were able to take the next two contests to win the doubles point. After the Blue Raiders won #2 doubles, Muller and Wu-Hung Ju fought Thiago Almedia and Aleksa Ciric at #3 doubles. A back-and-forth match as the two pairs forced a decive tie-breaker, which Lindsey Wilson won taking the match 6-7 (7-5) and the doubles point.
Cumberlands battled for their four wins in singles play to grab the victory. Montull evened the score at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Thiago Almedia at #3 singles. UC took their first lead of the match moments later as Wu Hung-Ju knocked off Steven Espinoza 6-4, 6-3 at #5 singles and give UC a 2-1 advantage.
The Blue Raiders notched a three-set win at #2 singles to even the score. The Patriots turned to Barbier, who won his first set over Slihavy 6-1, but dropped the second 3-6. The deciding set was one that came down to the wire as Barbier outlasted his counterpart 12-10 putting Cumberlands back in front 3-2.
Quentin Villetorte clinched the match for the Patriots with a three set win over Nicolas Torrealbe at #6 singles. Villetorte rallied from behind taking the second set 6-2 to force a deciding third set that the sophomore won 10-8 giving UC the team win 4-2.
Nodado won his first set 7-6 over Anatoliy Voloshyn at #4 singles, however, play was halted in the second set.
Cumberlands will look to take the momentum from this contest into the regular season, which begins in February.
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