NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Belmont Bruins faced the fire of Tennessee State and controlled the flames! In their final OVC opener, the men put together a scrappy 5-2 win over their crosstown rivals.
For starters, the Bruins went back to their more usual doubles lineup after they shook it up against Alabama A&M. The results were the same. Despite the Tigers' spirit, Belmont held together for two wins to seal point one. First, junior Jack Randall and senior Arthur Toledo teamed back up after one match apart. They took home their sixth win in eight spring matches: 6-1. After the opening win, court one was the center of attention. Why wouldn't that be true?
After all, sophomores Diego Castro and Tomas Luis were named OVC Doubles Team of the Week for the second time this spring last Tuesday. Spoiler alert: they lived up to the bargain by a final score of 6-3.
Next, Toledo turned in another run of routine fun. Smiling the whole way, he won in two sets to earn his eighth win as the number one singles player this spring.
After that, things got chippy. Each court featured at least instance of back-and-forth arguing over the final spot of an attack. First up, Castro returned to .500 (3-3) in dual singles after he fought for the two set triumph. Now over to court two where the fiery competition could leave anyone with third-degree burns.
Sophomore Ian Cruz was playing his first dual as the number two spotter. He fought hard on the court and for ever point argued between him and Maksims Kasijevs. After pulling ahead 6-5 in set one, Cruz used his competitive fire to pull through 7-5. From there, he took home set two quietly and confidently to move to 9-2 this spring.
Finally, sophomore Alfred Wallin earned two harder-than-they-looked 6-2 victories on court six to seal the final margin.
Incredibly, this is the first time since the Vanderbilt trip that a Belmont foe has scored two points against them. Still, six wins in a row makes that pill easier to swallow. Belmont is now 9-3 as they have had winning streaks of six or more matches each of their last three seasons.
Who's next? Xavier next Friday in Belmont's final non-conference home match of 2022. The show is scheduled to begin at four p.m. Be sure to catch live updates on our Twitter and Instagram.
DOUBLES
D. Castro/T. Luis (BU) def. M. Kasijevs/L. Misdrachis - 6-3
J. Randall/A. Toledo (BU) def. D. Britt-Alvarez/N. Moinet - 6-1
T. Miyamoto/A. Wallin (BU) vs. D.P. Caraballo/P. Copin - 5-4, unfinished
SINGLES
Arthur Toledo (BU) def. Leonardo Misdrachis - 6-0, 6-1
Ian Cruz (BU) def. Maksims Kasijevs - 7-6 (2), 6-0
Daniel Perez Caraballo def. Jack Randall (BU) - 6-4, 7-5
Diego Castro (BU) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez - 6-3, 6-4
Nil Moinet def. Taisei Miyamoto (BU) - 6-1, 3-6, 10-5
Alfred Wallin (BU) def. Pierre Copin - 6-2, 6-2
Follow Belmont Men's Tennis on social media - @BelmontTennis on Twitter and @belmontmenstennis on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
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