CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Hatters were nearly perfect from a points standpoint this weekend as they defeated Charleston, 7-0, on Saturday at Patriots Point Tennis Center and The Citadel, 4-1, on Sunday at Earle Tennis Center.
The Hatters move to 4-1 overall in the early season.
Saturday the Hatters took a perfect score home but not for lack of effort by the home side.
Marc Saura and
Lucas Olivier opened doubles with a 6-0 win on court 1.
Alexandre Hillhouse and
Sami Ozzor clinched the point with a 6-1 win on court 3.
"Proud of the guys performance in doubles today, especially at one and three, it got us a point fairly quickly," head coach
Christophe Noblet said "From there, I thought the guys played fearless and aggressive in the start of singles play and took early leads on pretty much every courts, credit to College of Charleston for fighting back and giving themselves a chance to get back in the match at several positions. Proud of the guys for staying resilient, fighting through it and not counting on the next guy to get the point, but each one got the job done and grabbed a point. It's never easy to sweep on the road against a solid team, so excited for this one."
In singles, all but two courts went three sets. Juan Jose Rodriguez and Haris Eminefendic won on courts 3 and 4 respectively. On court 1, Saura took down Mattia Bernardi 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Olivier made a two-set comeback against Zac Larke 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Ozzor jumped in front on court 5, before stopping a comeback bid from Johnny Wang 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Hillhouse defeated Noah Borges on court 6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to wrap up the contest.
On Sunday, weather was a factor in the match from the outset. With that in mind and wanting a result, the coaches agreed to only play singles. Olivier struggled but eventually took down Hayden Shoemake 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 on court 1. Eminefendic knocked off Lucas Robins 7-5, 6-3 on court 3.
Sami Ozzor beat Ted Bagwell 6-2, 6-2 on court 5 with
Bendix Schroeder getting a win over 6-3, 6-1 on court 6. The lone defeat was a back-and-forth match with Juan Jose Rodriguez and Sebastian Kamieniecki battling to a third-set tiebreaker with Rodriguez eventually yielding the three-set challenge, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6. Saura and Zvonko Bencedic on court 2 did not play due to weather.
Stetson returns home for a pair of matches on Saturday starting with Florida National at 10 a.m., before wrapping up with Atlantis at 3:30 p.m. The matches are a combination of the men's and women's teams.
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF).
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