Men's Tennis Defeats Lee 5-2 to Start 2023

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Beginning its 2023 journey Sunday afternoon with a win, the Belmont University men's tennis team topped visiting Lee University 5-2 indoors at the Ensworth Tennis Center. The Bruins swept all three doubles matches and collected wins in four of the top five singles positions against the NCAA Division II Flames.
 
Fresh off a 14-win campaign a year ago, Belmont picked up its first dual match victory of the new season in convincing fashion. The doubles tandems of senior Jack Randall/junior Alfred Wallin and sophomore Ian Cruz/junior Tomas Luis both secured 6-1 match wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. Randall and Wallin defeated Lee's Mike and Quinn Groenendijk, while Cruz and Luis bested the Flames' Drew Johnston and Wihan Van Der Merwe.
 
Graduate student Marko Ilic and junior Riccardo Trione gutted out a 7-4 tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles against Francisco Faria and Nico Ramirez of Lee.
 
After claiming the doubles point, the Bruins quickly went up 2-0 following a 6-1, 6-2 win by Cruz over Mike Groenendijk at No. 4 singles. The Flames' lone match win, a 6-3, 6-2 victory for Van Der Merwe against junior Niklas von Hellens at the sixth singles spot, was equalized by Trione at No. 5 singles where he handed Johnston a 6-4, 6-2 loss.
 
Luis clinched the winning point at No. 3 singles, recovering from a 6-1 opening set loss against Lee's Jordi Dasi with consecutive 6-1 set wins. Wallin prevailed in a pair of tight sets versus Faria at No. 2 singles, taking the first set in a tiebreaker before winning set two 6-4.
 
Wrapping up the day at the top singles spot, Ilic battled in a third set super tiebreaker against Ramirez. Ilic took the first set, 7-5, but was unable to win a second set tiebreak (7-4). In the winner-take-all super tiebreak, Ramirez narrowly escaped Ilic, 10-8.
 
Up Next
Belmont returns to match action next week in Evansville, Indiana, where the Bruins will face Austin Peay in a non-conference meeting. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. Next Sunday, Belmont hosts nearby rival Lipscomb at the Ensworth Tennis Center.
 
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