The Runners continued their stellar play and extended their match win streak to five with a victory over the University of San Francisco 6-1 Saturday morning at the UTSA Tennis Center.
The win over No. 75 USF was the Runners first over a nationally ranked opponent. They improved the Runners record to 7-4.
The match began with UTSA winning the doubles point by taking two of the three matches. At No. 1 doubles, Runners Nenad Maric and Rodrigo Morgado, defeated Greg Hom and Mitch Del Rosario, 8-5.
Robin Fernandes and Adam Becker gave the Runners the doubles point with their victory over Asaf Cohen and Matthew Berry 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.
USF managed to avoid the doubles sweep when Thong Tu and Rainer Nachbauer defeated Nate Avila and Andre Moreira 8-3 at No. 3 doubles.
The Runners continued their dominance over the Dons by winning five of the six singles matches. Senior Captain Avila gave The Runners a 2-0 lead with his triumph over Hom, 6-3, 6-2 at no. 5 singles. Junior co-Captain Becker pushed the Runners lead to 3-0 with his win over Einar Hart 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.
“The guys are kind of settling down, knowing where they’re playing in the line-up. Everyone is starting to feel comfortable with their games. Ultimately, it’s just the guys gaining confidence. Confidence is a huge key,” Coach Oliver Trittenwein said.
Freshman Morgado clinched the match for the Runners at No. 2 singles by beating Nachbauer ,6-3, 7-5. Morgado’s win gave UTSA a 4-0 lead and match victory.
Sophomore Moreira continued the onslaught by winning his match over TU, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 at No. 3 singles, and Maric picked up the Runners final victory by defeating Mitch Del Rosario of USF, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
“Recruiting is one of the key things to any coach’s success. It makes me feel good when you have freshmen winning; you know you’ve recruited well. When the young guys are winning matches, it’s huge,” Coach Trittenwein said.
The only loss for the Runners came at No. 1 singles. Fernandes, last week’s SLC Player of the Week, dropped a hard-fought 7-5, 3-6, 3-6 to Matthew Berry.
The UTSA men’s tennis team lost 5-2 on Monday afternoon against East Tennessee State, snapping their five game win streak.
