The No. 9 ranked Emory men's tennis team (11-4) returned to the Woodruff P.E. Center for the first time in over a month on Saturday afternoon to host a match with the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. The Eagles entered the weekend riding a three-match winning streak, including back-to-back wins over top-25 opponents. While Emory got off to a sluggish start and dropped the doubles point, the Eagles regrouped to sweep singles and win 6-1 to extend their winning streak to four straight.
 
The Eagles sent out a different lineup than usual, with the underclassmen duo of Christian Liew and Ruilin Feng jumping up to the No. 1 doubles spot. The move up was no problem for them, as they won their 10^th straight match together. The win was their first in the top-position, winning, 6-4.
 
Yet, that was the only doubles match the Eagles would claim as graduate students Efe Comu and Charley Force dropped their match on court two, 3-6, while freshmen Ajay Kartik and Alec Anghel fell on court three, also by a score of 3-6.
 
While it wasn't the start the Eagles wanted, they quickly turned things around and swept all six of the singles matches. Anghel secured the first point for the Eagles, winning 6-2, 6-0 to quickly earn a win on court six. He improves to 7-3 during dual matches. Comu was next on court two, dropping just one game during his match. His final line read 6-1, 6-0 to see him win his fourth-straight singles match. Liew put Emory on the brink of victory when he won his match on court three by a score of 6-2, 6-1.
 
Needing just one more win, it was once again Feng in the top-position who earned the clinching point for Emory. The rookie won his first set, 7-6 but was quickly downed, 1-6, in the second set to force a superset. Feng went on to win the deciding frame, 9-7, and clinch the win for the Eagles. The win marks Feng's fourth-straight singles win and sees him improve to 11-2 overall.
 
Kartik was next to finish up, playing on court five. He won his opening set, 7-5, but fell in the second, 4-6. The rookie remained composed, though, and won the deciding third-set, 6-2. Force completed the sweep, earning a win on court four. He narrowly won the opening set 7-6(4) but couldn't come away with the second when he fell, 3-6. He went on to win the superset, 10-4, and finish off the sweep of the Banana Slugs.
 
The win improves the Eagles dual match record to 11-4 this spring. Emory will play its final home match of the season this coming week when they get set to host NAIA powerhouse Georgia Gwinnett. The meeting with the Grizzlies is slated for a 1:00 PM start on Tuesday, April 15^th.