Men's Tennis | 3/7/2021 5:30:00 PM
The West Liberty University men's tennis team split a pair of matches on a busy weekend.
Coach Ron Hulewicz's Hilltoppers opened their Mountain East Conference schedule on Saturday with a 7-0 shutout of West Virginia Wesleyan at the Wheeling Park Bubble before dropping a 6-1 decision regionally-ranked Bluefield State on Sunday afternoon in Charleston.
In the Saturday match, West Liberty swept all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point.
Anton Schulz and
Derek Roehner eked out a 7-6 tiebreaker win at No. 1 doubles while the No. 2 tandem of
Daisuke Aota and
Gianluca Gerndt and the No. 3 pairing of
Zarion Jones and
Isfandiyor Makhumudov breezed to 6-2 wins.
The Hilltoppers made a clean sweep of the singles matches, as well. Makhumudov and Schulz were pushed to third sets at Nos. 1 and 2 singles but Aota, Gerndt, Jones and Roehner all claimed straight-set wins.
On Sunday, Bluefield State's perennial regional powerhouse didn't give WLU much breathing room. The Big Blues swept the three doubles matches by identical 6-1 scores and notched straight set wins in five of the six singles matches.
Jones helped the Hilltoppers avoid the shutout with a straight-set win against the Big Blues' Juan DeFreitas at No. 6 singles.
MEN'S TENNIS
West Liberty 7, W.Va. Wesleyan 0
Singles
Isfandiyor Makhumudov (WLU) d. Taylor Papworth, 5-7 6-4 6-4
Anton Schulz (WLU) d. Camilo Salvi, 6-1 5-7 6-3
Daisuke Aota (WLU) d. Anthony McIntosh, 6-3 7-5
Gianluca Gerndt (WLU) d. Nadal Ferrer, 6-1 6-0
Zarion Jones (WLU) d. Haruki Ilzuka, 6-2 7-6(5)
Derek Roehner (WLU) d. Ethan Thomas, 6-2 6-1
Doubles
Schulz/Roehner (WLU) d. Papworth/McIntosh, 7-6(3)
Aota/Gerndt (WLU) d. Salvi/Ferrer, 6-2
Jones/Makhumudov (WLU) d. Ilzuka/Thomas, 6-2
Bluefield State 6, West Liberty 1
Singles
Bau-Madsen (BSC) d.
Isfandiyor Makhumudov, 6-1 6-2
Khalil (BSC) d.
Anton Schulz, 6-3 6-3
Schmieta (BSC) d.
Daisuke Aota, 6-3 6-2
Busse (BSC) d. Gianulca Gerndt, 6-0 6-3
Avila (BSC) d.
Derek Roehner, 6-2 6-0
Zarion Jones (WLU) d. DeFreitas, 6-4 6-3
Doubles
Bau-Madsen/Khalil (BSC) d. Schulz/Roehner, 6-1
Schmieta/Busse (BSC) d. Aota/Gerndt, 6-1
Shasteen/Razafindratsima (BSC) d. Jones/Makhumudov, 6-1
