HICKORY, N.C. (Feb. 11) – In a rematch of the semifinals at the City of Florence Invitational, the University of Mount Olive men's tennis team edged out Lenoir-Rhyne by a 4-3 margin in a non-conference regional match on Saturday.

With the win, the Trojans improve to 3-2 this season after advancing to the finals of the Florence Invitational for the first time in program history. Meanwhile, the Bears continue their slow start to the spring with a 1-3 overall record after winning 13 matches last year.

Mount Olive claimed the doubles point after securing wins at the first and second positions on Saturday. Junior Guilherme Zotin de Oliveira and freshman Daniel Hammond registered a 6-3 win over Zachary Cox and Rufus Plane in the first position. Juniors Adam Ibrahim and Diego Ortega Cadahia defeated Vadym Rogynskyi and Mauricio Hernandez by a 6-4 margin in second doubles, while sophomore Elios Briand and freshman Bram Poel suffered a 6-4 loss against Joel Hemmings and Patrik Alvestrand in the third slot.

The Trojans sealed the match victory after the two teams split the six singles matches. de Oliveira dropped a 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) decision to Cox in the first position, but Hammond rebounded with a 6-1, 6-0 straight sets victory over Rogynskyi in the second slot. In third singles, Ibrahim battled in a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 loss to Connor Gibson before senior Israel Rodriguez Rojas fell by a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 margin in the fourth position to Plane. Poel answered for the UMO with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the fifth slot over Hernandez and freshman Kabir Chhabria picked up the straight sets victory 6-0, 6-0 versus Mattias Selde.

The Trojans return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 14, when they travel to face Campbell in non-conference play at 2 p.m.