Men's Tennis Sweeps Austin Peay Saturday in Indiana

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Getting its first road test of 2023, the Belmont University men's tennis team was nearly perfect Saturday versus Austin Peay in non-conference indoor action in Evansville, Indiana. Improving to 2-0, the Bruins gave up only one set to the host Governors in a dominant 7-0 sweep.

Graduate student Marko Ilic and junior Riccardo Trione teamed up for a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles over Austin Peay's Tom Bolton and Giovanni Becchis, while junior Tomas Luis and sophomore Ian Cruz took No. 3 doubles 6-3 against the Governors' Hogan Stoker and Bodi van Galen.
 
The closest doubles match came at the second spot where senior Jack Randall and junior Alfred Wallin edged Austin Peay's Aeneas Schaub and Javier Tortajada 7-5.
 
Spoiling the Governors' season opener, Belmont won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Trione nearly got a double bagel at No. 4 singles, dismantling Tortajada 6-1, 6-0 while sophomore Gabriel Sardo defeated Austin Peay's Thiago Nogueira by identical set scores of 6-2.
 
Cruz also picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles against Bolton as Ilic and Luis were met with a little more resistance at the top two singles positions. Both Ilic and Luis claimed 7-4 first-set tiebreakers in their matches at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, before earning 6-2 and 6-3 second set wins. Ilic topped Becchis at the top singles spot and Luis bested Schaub at second singles.
 
At No. 5 singles, junior Niklas von Hellens prevailed in a third set super tiebreaker. After winning the opening set against van Galen, 6-4, von Hellens recovered from a 6-2 second set loss by capturing the 10-point tiebreak, 10-3.
 
Up Next
The Bruins have a short turnaround as they host the Battle of the Boulevard Sunday morning versus nearby rival Lipscomb. First serve from the Ensworth Tennis Center is slated for 10 a.m. Live scoring will be available at BelmontBruins.com. Playing four of its first five matches of the season at home, Belmont welcomes the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to the Music City next weekend.
 
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