Men's Tennis Wins Fourth Straight, Gets Past Tennessee State 4-3 Saturday Night

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Winning three of the top four singles matches after taking the doubles point, the Belmont University men's tennis team picked up a key Horizon League victory late Saturday indoors at Tennessee State's Hadley Park Tennis Center. Improving to 3-0 in league play and 10-10 overall, the Bruins defeated the host Tigers (5-11, 2-1 Horizon) 4-3 as junior Esunge Ndumbe clinched the match with a three-set win at the top of the singles lineup.
 
"It was a solid team victory as a whole," commented head coach Jeff Cero. "I thought Esunge (Ndumbe) played very well in his singles and doubles matches and led the charge for us today. Sabi (Roi) and Diego (Castro) did as well and showed great poise against a quality opponent. We had some opportunities to close it out and could've done a better job keeping the pressure on and not allowing Tennessee State an opportunity. It was a good learning experience heading into our final match and the conference tournament."
 
Belmont took the doubles point with wins at the top two spots. The tandem of sophomore Stefan Vedovelli and junior Sabi Roi were 6-3 victors over Tennessee State's Rohan Loubser and Tatenda Mutetwa at No. 1 doubles, while Ndumbe and freshman Charlie Robin powered past the Tigers' James Adler Germinal and Taj Hibbert by an identical 6-3 set score at second doubles.
 
Tennessee State won at third doubles with Jonasz Dziopak and Alexander Adamec topping senior Diego Castro and junior Eli Mizerski 6-2.
 
Both Roi and Castro cruised at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, to give the Bruins a commanding 3-0 lead. At the third position, Roi took down Adler Germinal 6-3, 6-2 and Castro at the fourth spot bested Loubser 6-3, 6-1.
 
At No. 2 singles, Robin jumped out to a promising set lead (6-3) on Hibbert but wasn't able to close out a 7-5 second set before falling in the decisive third, 6-3.
 
Up 3-1, Belmont needed just one more singles win to clinch. Ndumbe and Dziopak fought through 6-1 sets on the top court with Ndumbe taking the first and Dziopak the second. In the deciding third set, it was Ndumbe who prevailed as he broke Dziopak twice for a 6-4 triumph.

Esunge Ndumbe with the clincher on court No. 1 at Tennessee State?? ??#ItsBruinTime pic.twitter.com/k2XyyPpWCa

— Belmont MTennis (@BelmontMTennis) April 6, 2025

Despite winning the opening set 6-2, Vedovelli was unable to close out Alexander Adamec at No. 5 singles. Adamec took the second set, 6-4, before claiming the 10-point super tiebreak, 10-2.
 
In the final match of the night at the No. 6 singles position, Mizerski nearly came back against the Tigers' Christopher Bogelin. After dropping the first set 6-2, Mizerski won set two 7-5. In the super tiebreaker, which replaced the third set, Mizerski nearly overcame Bogelin's triple match point at 9-6 but ultimately came up just short, 11-9.
 
Up Next
The Bruins will have two weeks off from match action before closing the regular season on Saturday, April 19 at Tennessee Tech. First serve from the Tech Tennis Courts in Cookeville, Tennessee, is slated for 2 p.m. The 2025 Horizon League Championship is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
 
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