Owensboro, KY - After what was a stellar season in 2021 that saw them finish the year 13th in the final NAIA Coaches Poll, Cumberlands men's tennis opened the season with a 7-0 sweep over Shawnee State Friday afternoon. With the win the Patriots advance to in the winners bracket of the Mid-South Conference's Fall Invitational.

The Patriots got off to a fast start as they dropped only one point in doubles action. Martin Barbier and Eric Banoub were at #1 double and they defeated Shawnee State's top duo of Zayden Rinehart and Duarte Melo 6-0.

Luis Montull and Christian De La Fuente Nodado followed suit as they swept their counterpart, Aiden White and Keenan Lambert at #3 doubles to clinch the point for UC. At #2 doubles, Martin Muller and Robert Wu-Hung Ju finished off their match winning 6-1 over Austin Hanshaw and Jacob Freeland, giving the Patriots a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

In singles, Barbier tallied the first win at #1 position. Barbier won the first set 6-2 over Duarte Melo before needing to win a tiebreaker 7-0 in the second set to secure the point and extend the Patriots lead to 2-0.

Martin Muller followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Zayden Rinehart at #2 singles while Luis Montull followed him with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jacob Freeland at #3 to clinch the match for Cumberlands 4-0.

The back half of singles play continued on in similar fashion as UC's #4 Christian De La Fuente Nodado bested Austin Hanshaw 6-1, 6-2. Quentin Villetorte saw his first taste of action for UC as the #5 Friday after not competing last season. The sophomore from Bordeaux, France did not disappoint in his first appearance for the Patriots as he was able to win his match by a final of 6-3, 6-1 over Keenan Lambert. Robert Wu-Hung Ju finished out the day for Cumberlands on a high note as he was able to take straight sets without dropping a match at #6 singles against the Bear's Aiden White to give UC the sweep.

The Patriots advance to the semifinals of MSC Fall Invite tomorrow when they face the winner of Georgetown and Cumberland at 10 a.m. EST.

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