NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont University men's tennis team opens Ohio Valley Conference play Friday at the Belmont Tennis Complex, taking on Tennessee Tech at 1 p.m.
Belmont is coming off a 4-3 win against Lipscomb on Tuesday to sweep the Battle of the Boulevard and win its sixth straight match. The Bruins' six straight wins as a team marked the second straight season where Belmont has collected a winning streak of at least six or more matches.
Senior Marko Ilic claimed his fifth singles win of the season against Lipscomb, officially tying Willy Sandoval (1998-2002) for ninth in program history with 50 career singles wins. He needs just one more to move in a tie for eighth with Javier Rodriguez (2004-09).
Freshman Diego Castro picked up his fifth singles win of the season on Tuesday while junior Arthur Toledo remains unbeaten in singles play, collecting a 6-0 mark in 2021. Freshman Tomas Luis picked up his fourth singles win of the season on Tuesday, with his match being the clincher thanks to a 7-6 (7) win in the final set.
Luis earned OVC Player of the Week honors on Wednesday after going unbeaten in singles last week, becoming the fourth Bruin this season to earn the OVC's weekly award. The Tavira, Portugal native is currently 4-3 in singles matches this season, holding a 4-1 in doubles with Diego Castro.
Tennessee Tech enters the match with a 3-5, coming to Nashville on a three-game winning streak. Three seperate players have collected three wins in singles play in 2021, with the doubles portion led by Evzen Holis and Jun Sasagawa, who hold a 4-3 record on the year.
First serve is set for 1 p.m. on Friday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fan attendance at Belmont home tennis matches will be restricted to a small number of family members of the Belmont tennis team players.
