Box Score Bowling Green, KY - Coming off of a stellar season in 2022 that saw them finish the year 12th in the final NAIA Coaches Poll, Cumberlands men's tennis opened the season with a 6-1 win over Georgetown in the semifinals of the MSC Fall Invitational, Friday evening. With the win the Patriots advance to the championship match against #2 seed Cumberland Saturday.
The Patriots took the 1-0 lead early after winning two of the three doubles matches. Playing at #1 doubles the tandem of Robert Wu and Martin Muller defeated Georgetown's top duo of Max Barrier and Tsugu Hirose 6-0. The Tigers notched a 6-4 win at #2 doubles to even the match, however, Liam Savio and Christian De La Fuente Nodado secured the point for the Patriots with a 6-4 win over Andrew Kennedy and Chase Heckmy at #3 doubles.
In singles play, Christian De La Fuente earned the first win at #3 position. De La Fuente won both sets 6-1, 6-1 to extend the Patriots lead to 2-0. UC added another point as Mattis Le Montagner followed with a 6-0, 6-5 win over Parker Clarke at #2 singles.
Georgetown got on the board with a straight sets win at #1 singles before Liam Savio beat Logan Shallowood in straight sets (6-2,6,0) to clinch the match for Cumberlands and extend the lead to 4-0.
The back half of singles play continued on in similar fashion as Lucas Augotr saw his first taste of action for UC at the #5 single. The freshman from Argentina 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 Stephen Taylor. Wu 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 Tigers' Logan Shallwood to give UC the 6-1 win.
The Patriots advance to the finals of MSC Fall Invite tomorrow when they face Cumberland at Noon CT. UC is looking to capture the MSC Fall Invite title for the second straight year.
For the latest information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
