ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (April 1) – Playing a pair of exhibition contests on Monday afternoon, the No. 19 ranked Trojans claimed a sweep at North Carolina Wesleyan, a nationally-ranked Division III program, at the Slick Family Foundation Tennis Center.
With the victories, the University of Mount Olive men's tennis team remains 10-1 overall entering the final three weeks of the regular season. The match was also a reunion for head coach
Jake McCartney, who served as a volunteer assistant for the Bishops. Meanwhile, NC Wesleyan boasts a 12-5 record this season while ranking No. 22 in the latest ITA poll.
In Match 1, the Trojans secured a 6-3 victory after sweeping the doubles session while claiming three of the six singles matches. In doubles play, senior
Guilherme Zotin de Oliveira and freshman
Kristoffer Dalbak registered an 8-6 victory over Albert Sitwell and Diego Segovia in the first position. In the second slot, sophomore
Niklas Gruenefeldt and senior
Adam Ibrahim won via retirement with a 4-2 advantage against Sean Keane and Andy Fanzaga. Freshman
Lenn Hoffmann and sophomore
Bram Poel battled to an 8-7 (7-4) victory versus John Falke and Shori Nishizoe in the third doubles.
In the singles portion, de Oliveira fell via retirement in the opening set against Falke in the first position before Gruenefeldt dropped a 2-6, 5-7 decision to Segovia at the second slot. Dalbak responded with a 3-6, 6-4, 2-0 win by retirement over Sitwell in the third slot while Poel rallied to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory versus Nishizoe in the fourth singles. In the fifth position, Ibrahim produced a 7-5, 6-3 win against Rodrigo Monte de Oca before Hoffmann fell by a 6-4, 1-6, 0-6 margin to Bernardo Messineo in the sixth slot.
In Match 2, Mount Olive posted a 7-2 victory against the Bishops behind another sweep in the doubles portion before winning four singles matches. In the first position, freshman
Hampus Hagglund and senior
Diego Ortega Cadahia delivered an 8-6 win over Gustavo Rivas and Martin Cardestig before sophomore
Kabir Chhabria and sophomore
Oliver Winterhagen registered an 8-6 victory in the second doubles against Bohdan Zhylchuk and Alvaro Gomez. In the third slot, the freshmen duo of
Jacob Womble and
Kody Baker won by an 8-7 (7-3) decision over Francesco Raparo and Davide Simonini.
In the singles session, Chhabria battled to a 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3) win versus Zhylchuk in the first singles, while Hagglund delivered a 7-5, 6-1 victory in the second position against Rivas. In the third slot, Ortega Cadahia won in straight sets by a 6-1, 6-2 margin over Cardestig before Baker rallied to a 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) victory versus Gomez in the fourth position. Winterhagen suffered a 3-6, 2-6 loss to Julian Barros in the fifth singles while Womble fell by a score of 3-6, 3-6 versus Brody Brice in the sixth slot.
The Trojans return to Conference Carolinas play on Friday, April 5, when they travel to face rival Barton at 2 p.m.
