After being ranked as the No. 31 team in the country last Thursday, head coach Brandon Wagner’s squad took care of business in a Sunday doubleheader, taking down UNC Wilmington 4-0 and Furman 4-1. The dual victories saw men’s tennis improve to 10-1 on the season while building its home win streak to eight in a row.
The Tigers earned both of the day’s doubles points in a strangely symmetrical fashion. In the day’s first match, Max Damm and Wissam Abderrahman got the Tigers halfway to the doubles point on court No. 3 before Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith secured the other half.
Court No. 3 was the first to finish against Furman, as Marko Mesarovic and Matt Pitts beat Nico Snyder and Nicolas Dispas 6-1. And, as history would have it, No. 44 Vukadin and Smith again came through to earn the Tigers’ second doubles point on court No. 1.
In singles, the Tigers got off the court quickly against UNC Wilmington. Three players — Abderrahman, Mesarovic and Viktor Markov — earned quick, two-set victories to push the team over the 4-point threshold required for victory. As the day’s first match concluded, the clock ticked towards a matchup with cross-town counterpart Furman.
The Tigers did not skip a beat as they swiftly handled the Paladins a few hours later. Pitts won on court No. 5 to get the ball rolling. Mesarovic went undefeated on the day via a 6-4, 6-2 win over Theophile Joly. Sophomore Stewart Aronson joined his fellow teammate with a straight-set win of his own. Aronson dominated Paladin Walker Allen’s serve as he dropped only two games in the win. The day’s sole highlight for the Paladins came on court No. 1 as Elijah Poritzky defeated the red-hot No. 44 Vukadin in straight sets.
“There has been lots of good growth for this group through the first part of our season,” Wagner said. “Glad to see our guys get through today with two wins, with some tough adversity today.”
In what was a somewhat straightforward day at Duckworth Family Tennis Facility, the Tigers will be happy with their seamless stroll to 10-1. Sunday’s rapid-fire victories will give the Tigers time to rest for one of the biggest weeks of their season.
“We are looking forward to conference play coming up next weekend to start off at home and build off what we have been doing,” Wagner said. “Go Tigers!”
This Friday, the Tigers open their weekend of ACC play with a 3 p.m. matchup against Louisville. Less than 48 hours after the clash with the Cardinals, the Tigers will meet with No. 50-ranked Notre Dame in the first part of another Sunday doubleheader. The weekend will conclude with a 5 p.m. match against Gardner-Webb.
