The No. 10 ranked Emory men's tennis team (8-4) looked to get back to its winning ways, as they headed to Fredericksburg, Virginia for three matches this weekend. The Eagles had lost three consecutive matches heading into the trip. Emory started their weekend with the North Carolina Wesleyan Battling Bishops on Friday evening. Emory put on a dominating performance, sweeping the Battling Bishops, 7-0, to snap the three-game skid. The match was played on the Mary Washington University tennis courts.
The Battling Bishops pushed the Eagles in the early stages, taking down junior
Dean Kamenev and freshman
Ajay Kartik on court one, 6-2. Emory rebounded, though, with sophomore
Christian Liew and freshman
Ruilin Feng earning a 6-2 win on court two, marking the duo's seventh consecutive win. Graduate student
Efe Comu and freshman
Alec Anghel teamed up for the first time this season and secured the doubles point for the Eagles with a 6-4 win on court three.
With the doubles point in hand, the Eagles coasted to victory with a six-to-nothing- sweep in singles play.
Feng's impressive rookie year kept rolling right along, picking up a win in straight sets on court one (6-3. 6-3). Feng is now 8-2 this season in singles play. His doubles partner, Liew, made quick work of his opponent on court four, winning, 6-2 & 6-0. The win snapped a three-match skid for Liew. Comu snapped a losing streak of his own as well, winning on court three by a score of 6-0, 6-2. The win put a halt to a five-match skid for Comu. Anghel slotted into the No. 5 position for the Eagles on Friday, pulling out a win in straight sets as well (6-2, 6-4).
The remaining two matches saw the Eagles pushed to match tiebreakers. On court two, Kamenv took this first set, 6-2, before falling in a tiebreaker in the second set, 6(3)-7. Pushed to the brink, the two played in a super-set to decide a winner. Kamenev ultimately pulled away with a 10-6 win in the match tiebreaker. His doubles partner, Kartik, played on court six. Both players won a set by a score of 6-3 to force a tiebreaker. 10 points wasn't enough to decide a winner, though, as Kartik rallied for a 13-11 win in the superset.
The win lifts Emory to 8-4 on the year and snaps a three-match skid. They'll continue their weekend in Virginia with a tilt against #15 Johns Hopkins on Saturday at 1:00 PM. The match will also be played on the campus of Mary Washington.
