Mobile, Al. – The No. 15-seed Dalton Men’s Tennis Team (12-7) advanced to the next round of the single elimination National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championship Tournament Tuesday with an 8-1 win over Oklahoma Baptist at the Mobile Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners started by winning all three doubles events.
1. Nikolay Nikiforov and Adam Hornby (DS) def. Daniel Aguilera and Luis Romero (OBU), 8-0
2. Jose Ruda and Sebastian Dartnell (DS) def. Michael Vetter and Thomas Ackerknecht (OBU), 8-5
3. Joe Bray and Lucas Souza (DS) def. Babji Atturu and Jacob Albritton (OBU), 8-3
Dalton State captured all but No. 3 in singles.
1. Nikolay Nikiforov (DS) def. Daniel Aguilera (OBU), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0
2. Luis Romero (OBU) def. Adam Hornby (DS), 6-3, 6-3
3. Jose Ruda (DS) def. Michael Vetter (OBU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Joe Bray (DS) def. Thomas Ackerknecht (OBU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Sebastian Dartnell (DS) def. Russ Gehring (OBU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Lucas Souza (DS) def. Babji Attuu, 6-1, 6-2.
The Roadrunners take on No. 2-seed Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in the tournament’s second round on Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. ET, 9:00 a.m. in Mobile.
“It has looked like we were going to get Embry-Riddle for a couple of weeks now,” said Dalton Coach Zach Rogers. “We also knew that at some point we would have to play them if we were going to compete for or win the national title. Great teams rise up when they are faced with challenges. Hopefully we can make the transition from good to great and establish ourselves as one of the nation’s elite programs.”