Men's Tennis Earns Key Horizon League Win Over Tennessee State Saturday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont University men's tennis team remained perfect in the Horizon League since joining the conference and moved to 2-0 in league play this season with a 5-2 win over crosstown adversary Tennessee State late Saturday afternoon at the Beaman Family Tennis Complex. The Bruins (5-7, 2-0 Horizon) won the pivotal doubles point and took four of the six singles matches to secure the key Horizon League South Division victory.
 
Junior Gabriel Sardo clinched the match at No. 6 singles by winning a 7-3 second-set tiebreaker after defeating the Tigers' Rohan Loubser 6-2 in the first set. Senior Alfred Wallin closed out the day at the top singles position with a thrilling win over Tennessee State's Jonasz Dziopak. Bouncing back from a 6-1 opening set loss, Wallin outlasted Dziopak 7-5 in the second set and 10-5 in the deciding third set super tiebreak.
 
Strong doubles matches at the second and third spots gave Belmont an early 1-0 lead. Senior Tomas Luis and redshirt junior Diego Castro took care of the Tigers' Dziopak and Daniel Caraballo 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, while Wallin and junior Ian Cruz topped Tennessee State's Taj Hibbert and Loubser 6-2 on court three.
 
Cruz collected the Bruins' first singles win of the afternoon at the third position, breezing past Hibbert 6-2, 6-1. Luis then gave Belmont a 3-0 stronghold on the match with a 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of Caraballo at No. 2 singles.
 
The Tigers (4-16, 1-1 Horizon) earned their first point of the match at the fourth singles spot as Diego Britt-Alvarez earned a 7-5, 6-3 win against Castro. After Sardo clinched the match on court six, Tennessee State made it 4-2 when Nil Moinet defeated senior Niklas von Hellens 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles.
 
Up Next
The Bruins head south on Interstate 65 on Easter Sunday for a non-conference match at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. First serve from the Hoover Met Tennis Complex in Hoover, Alabama, is slated for 2 p.m. Next Thursday, Belmont travels to the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard to take on nearby rival Lipscomb.
 
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