Harrogate, TN - The #15 UC men's tennis team overcame an early deficit as they went on to sweep the singles matches to defeat Bluefield State College 6-1 in their season opener Sunday afternoon at the LMU Tennis Complex. UC would go on to drop only a single set through their six singles matches, and will move to 1-0 overall on the season.

The Big Blue took all three doubles matches with a 6-4 win at #1 doubles, a 7-6 win at #3 doubles, and lastly, a 7-5 win at #2 doubles to take the early 1-0 lead going into singles play.

However, the Patriots answered back strongly at the start of singles play with six-straight wins. At the #5 singles spot, Eric Banoub knocked off Daniel Shasteen 6-1, 6-2 to even the score up at 1-1. Continuing with the momentum, Mattis Le Montagner beat Ted Razafindratsima 6-3, 6-2 to take the lead at 2-1. Rolling in at the #3 singles spot was Luis Montull with a decisive 6-4, 6-3 win over Tom Schmieta to widen the lead to 3-1.

Trailing after the first set, UC's ace, Martin Barbier, followed that with a 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 win over Frederik Bau-Madsen to make the score 4-1 and clinch the match for the Patriots heading into the last two singles matches. Both Robert Wu Hung-Ju and Martin Muller would go on to win their #6 and #2 singles matches against J. Manuel De Fritas and Mohamed Khalil 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4, 7-6, respectively, to give the Patriots a 6-1 win in their season opener.

The Patriots will return to the court on Wednesday, February 24, in Barbourville, KY where they will face #16 Union College.  

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