Mobile, AL - The Dalton State men’s tennis team began the 2015 Spring schedule with wins over another newcomer to the SSAC: Middle Georgia College followed by a sweep of Loyola University of New Orleans.
The Roadrunners were in place as a conference member for the 2013-14 season, but didn’t have the luxury of playing a conference schedule. The Middle Georgia Knights are the newest members of the conference.
They are playing a conference schedule in all sports, but are not eligible for post-season consideration.
Dalton State tennis teams swept both defeated Middle Georgia at the Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center.
The DS men took two of the three doubles tennis matches and four of six singles to take the Knights, 6-3.
It was 39 degrees with 15-20 mph winds at first serve. “The guys did a great of adjusting to extremely tough condition,” said DS Men’s Coach Zach Rogers.
Doubles:
1. Shem Alexis and Nishanth Rebello (MGS) def. Nikolay Nikiforov and Adam Hornby (DS), 9-7
2. Jose Ruda and Semastian Dartnell (DS) def. Tim Driessen and Nick Peters (MGS), 8-5
3. Joe Bray and Lucas de Souza (DS) def. Jordan Clayton and Elliott Wharton (MGS), 8-1
Singles:
1. Shem Alexis (MGS) def. Jose Ruda (DS), 3-6, 6-3, 10-6
2. Nishanth Rebello (MGS) def. Nikolay Nikiforov (DS), 7-6, 6-2
3. Adam Hornby (DS) def. Tim Driessen (MGS), 6-1, 6-2
4. Joe Bray (DS) def. Nick Peters (MGS), 6-3, 6-1
5. Sebastian Dartnell (DS) def. Elliott Wharton (MGS), 7-6, 5-7, 10-7
6. Lucas de Souza (DS) def. Jordan Clayton (MGS), 6-1, 6-1
The Roadrunners then topped Loyola, 9-0.
“It’s hard to complain after you finish your first day of conference play 2-0, said Rogers. “We started off slow in doubles against Loyola, but we made good use of an early rain delay and came out and took all three doubles lines.”
“We were able to rest Adam and Jose in singles. It gave Drew Mosteller a chance to step in and notch his first win in team play. I was proud of the way both of our teams played today.”
Doubles:
1. Nikolay Nikiforov/Adam Hornby (DS) def. Federico Mercado/David Mahall (LU), 8-5
2. Jose Ruda/Sabastian Dartnell (DS) def. Ricardo Mercado/Ernesto de Diego (LU), 9-7
3. Joe Bray/Lucas de Souza (DS) def. Trivesh Singh/Tony Benjamin (LU), 8-0
Singles:
1. Nikolay Nikiforov (DS) def. Trivesh Singh (LU), 6-1, 6-0
2. Joe Bray (DS) def. Federico Mercado (LU), 6-2, 5-1
3. Sebastian Dartnell (DS) def. Ernesto de Diego (LU), 6-3, 6-3
4. Lucas de Souza (DS) def. David Mahall (LU), 6-2, 6-0
5. Drew Mosteller (DS) def. Ricardo Mercado (LU), 6-4, 6-0
6. Hadyn Fava (DS) def. Anthony Zaleski (LU), 6-0, 6-1
The Dalton State men take on NAIA No. 3 Ranked Auburn Montgomery Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in Mobile.
The Warhawks are favored to repeat as conference champions.