Men's Tennis Extends Win Streak to 10 with 7-0 Sweep of Rival Tennessee Tech

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Just one victory now separates the Belmont University men's tennis team from its second consecutive outright conference regular season title following a 7-0 sweep of rival Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon at the Beaman Family Tennis Complex. The Bruins (17-5), who set the program's single-season win record with their 17th triumph of the year, extended their winning streak to 10 while remaining unbeaten in Horizon League play (8-0).
 
With a victory Sunday over Southern Indiana, Belmont can clinch the Horizon League South Division crown outright in its first season in the conference. Saturday's win over the visiting Golden Eagles (4-13, 4-2 Horizon) clinched at least a share of the Horizon League South Division championship for the Bruins.
 
Celebrating graduate student Marko Ilic and senior Jack Randall on senior day, Belmont earned its eighth sweep of the season. Despite the score, the match was quite competitive throughout in singles action.
 
The Bruins left little doubt about who was going to claim the doubles point as Belmont got breaks early and took court two in convincing fashion. The tandem of junior Alfred Wallin and Randall took out Tennessee Tech's Evzen Holis and Jaime Paquet 6-1 at the second spot, before the duo of junior Tomas Luis and Ian Cruz topped the Golden Eagles' Pol Masafret and Mika Berghaus 6-4 at the third position to clinch the coveted doubles point.
 
At No. 1 doubles, the nationally-ranked pair of Ilic and junior Riccardo Trione led Tennessee Tech's Elias Grubert and Paulo Ramos Martin 5-3 when Luis and Cruz finished their match on court three.
 
The Bruins' depth showed early in singles play as Randall was the first off the court at the sixth spot, defeating Paquet 6-2, 6-3. Both Trione and Cruz had tight second sets on courts five and four, respectively, but secured the match win with straight-set triumphs. Trione dismissed Ramos Martin 6-2, 7-5 at No. 5 singles and Cruz finished off Masafret 6-0, 7-5 at the fourth position.
 
Luis was also a straight-set winner at No. 3 singles where he bested Holis 6-3, 6-4.
 
High-level tennis closed out the afternoon as Wallin had quite the comeback at the second spot against Grubert. After dropping the opening set 6-3, Wallin stormed back to take set two 6-0. In the 10-point super tiebreaker to decide the third set, Wallin saved a trio of match points before earning a 13-11 victory.
 
On court one, Ilic battled Berghaus in another three-set affair. Berghaus won the first set 7-5 before Ilic prevailed in a second set tiebreaker, 7-3. In the decisive third-set super tiebreak, Ilic took control early and led 5-1 before ultimately winning 10-6.
 
Up Next
Belmont wraps up its home slate Sunday afternoon in the Music City against the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
 
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