Kennesaw, Ga. ? Both the Stetson men's and women's tennis teams rolled to 4-0 shutout victories at conference foe Kennesaw State on Monday in matches shortened to four points due to time constraints and the threat of inclement weather. Results did not become available until late Tuesday morning. The Hatter men improved to 16-4 overall and 7-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference while the women's squad raised its record to 11-5 overall and 6-1 in the A-Sun.
Senior Filip Kricka (Umag, Croatia) and freshman Maksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus) paired up to defeat Lawrence Washington and Ryan Bouttell 8-2 and #2 doubles; they also picked up dominating singles wins as Kricka rolled past Washington 6-1, 6-1 in the #1 position while Levanovich dismantled Michael Langel 6-1, 6-0 at #3 singles.
Junior Mark Mestan (Cologne, Germany) was also a double winner for the Hatters, teaming with freshman Cesare Gallo (Portogruaro, Italy) to beat Andrew Suesserman and Dylan Higgins 8-2 at #3 doubles and then defeating Tyler Mills 6-3, 6-2 at #2 singles. Gallo's singles match remained unfinished, as did those of freshman Njal Stene (Oslo, Norway) and sophomore Gokay Celik (Istanbul, Turkey). Celik and sophomore Chris Swanteson (Vaxjo, Sweden) did not get to finish their doubles matches either. The loss dropped the Owls to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in the Atlantic Sun in their first year as a varsity men's tennis program.
The women's match followed much the same script as the men's with the Hatters putting away the Lady Owls quickly. Junior Breanna Atkinson (Bradenton, Fla.) and sophomore Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) were double winners. Atkinson paired with junior Katherine Nowicki (Jacksonville, Fla.) for an 8-1 rout of Mercedes Cobos and Agatha Palider at #2 doubles before picking up a 6-3, 5-0 (retired) win over Ayano Tanaka at #2 singles. Purushotham and junior Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) beat Alena Sergeychik and Vera Shkundina 8-4 at #1 doubles prior to a 6-4, 6-1 Purushotham win over Cobos at #3 singles.
Freshman Shannon Gunning (Boca Raton, Fla.) also won a singles match, beating Palider 6-2, 6-4 in the #5 position. All other singles matches and the third doubles match remained unfinished. Kennesaw State sunk to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in A-Sun action.
The Hatters return home to the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center for a pair of crucial conference doubleheaders against powerhouse foes ETSU and USC Upstate this week. ETSU is first up on Thursday with the women's match beginning at 12 p.m. and the men's match set for 3:30 p.m.
