CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Belmont men's tennis team captured a share of the OVC regular season championship with their 4-2 victory over Eastern Illinois Sunday afternoon in Charleston, Illinois. It is the first regular season title for the program in the school's Division I era.
Belmont captured the first point of the match as they won the doubles point with wins at number one and number two. At number one, Antun and Lovrinovic beat Bauman and Skolik 8-4,and then at number two, Dujacquier and Claesson defeated Henderson and Skolik 8-4.
In singles, the Bruins posted wins in the first three positions to clinch the 4-2 match victory. BU went up 3-0 when Lovrinovic defeated Thompson 6-4, 6-3 then Dujacquier beat Henderson in three sets: 2-6, 7-5, and 6-2. The match was clinched when Antun outlasted Kandt in three sets 3-6, 6-4, and 6-1.
With the victory, Belmont shares the OVC regular season championship with Jacksonville State after both teams finished with an 8-1 conference record. Due to its head-to-head win over the Bruins on April 6th, JSU will be #1 seed at this week's OVC Tournament, while Belmont will be seeded #2. Both teams will receive byes into the tournament semifinals.
The Bruins (10-9, 8-1) return to the court on Friday in the OVC Tournament Semifinals at 10:00am in Paducah, Kentucky. They will either face #3 Austin Peay or #6 Eastern Illinois.
