Men's Tennis | 4/2/2015 12:50:00 PM

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's tennis team took charge of the Mountain East Conference title chase Wednesday with a 6-3 victory at the University of Charleston.
    Coach Sam McCullough's Hilltoppers (12-2, 4-0) handed the Golden Eagles (9-2, 3-1) their first MEC loss of the season in convincing fashion, sweeping all three doubles matches and never looking back.
    Andy Ponder and Santiago Gutierrez teamed up for a huge 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles against UC's to tandem of Alex Foote and Dennis Okath to get the Black and Gold off to a fast start.
    West Liberty wrapped up the doubles sweep with ease as the No. 2 pairing of Martin Moncayo and Baptiste Perrin and the No. 3 team of Pablo Cimorra and Matt Tully each rolled to 8-3 victories.
    Charleston got back in the match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles but Perrin bounced back after dropping the opening set to win his match at No. 3 singles. Moncayo and Tully posted straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles to put the match on ice.
    The Hilltoppers will try to keep on rolling Thursday afternoon when they host Fairmont State in a 3 p.m. match at the Edgar Martin Tennis Complex.
 
MEN'S TENNIS
West Liberty 6, Charleston 3
Singles
Alek Foote (UC) d. Andy Ponder, 6-2 6-2
James Gammell (UC) d. Santiago Gutierrez, 7-5 6-4
Baptiste Perrin (WLU) d. Dennis Okath, 5-7 7-5 (10-3)
Martin Moncayo (WLU) d. Jake Lorenz, 6-4 7-5
Matt Tully (WLU) d. Nick Bakos, 6-2 6-3
Jamie Gibson (UC) d. Pablo Cimorra, 6-7 6-1 6-4
Doubles
Ponder/Gutierrez (WLU) d. Foote/Okath, 8-6
Moncayo/Perrin (WLU) d. Gammell/Lorenz, 8-3
Cimorra/Tully (WLU) d. Bakos/Verun Shah, 8-3