The men’s tennis team capped off a successful weekend with a pair of wins over UNC-Charlotte and SoCon rival Chattanooga, each match ending with 6-1 score. The Bucs now push their regular season record to 14-4 and carry an undefeated streak in the conference.
The Bucs traveled to Charlotte on Friday to take on the 49ers. The team breezed through the singles play with sophomore Frazier Rengifo (Cali, Columbia) starting it off and grabbing the first win at 5-7,6-2, 6-4. Senior Sergi Fontcuberta (Barcelona, Spain) fell to 49ers Ignasi de Rueda 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 before the Bucs rallied four more wins in singles action.
The momentum remained with the Bucs as they cruised through doubles. Sophomore Yusuf Khamis (Cairo, Egypt) teamed up with Rengifo and gained the first doubles win at 6-1. Junior pair Miguel Este (Caracas, Venezuela) and Chris Mikrovas (Athens, Greece) followed up another win at 6-2. The final match went unfinished and featured Fontcuberta and senior stand-out David Gonzalez (Barcelona, Spain).
The Bucs carried their winning mentality into the SoCon match against Chattanooga two days later. Fontcuberta and Gonzalez saw a different outcome in their doubles play and swept the competition with a 6-0 start and the only doubles win for ETSU.
Singles action, however, shined with all the Bucs securing victories. Este tied the match at one a piece with a dominate performance of 6-0, 6-2. Khamis then put the Bucs back on top of the lead with a 6-1, 6-4 win.
Gonzalez, Fontcuberta and Juan Lugo (Maracay, Venezuela) sealed the deal for the Bucs with three straight wins, with Fontcuberta closing it out with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 win.
The Bucs are now on a five game win streak, with an unbeaten record of seven wins at home.
“Things are looking great for the team thus far,” said head coach Martin Stiegwardt.
The team returns home this weekend to compete in their last non-conference match against UNC-Wilmington. After, the Bucs close out the regular season with two SoCon matches against Mercer and Citadel.
