DeLand, Fla. – The Stetson Hatters improved to 2-1 on the season with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Gardner-Webb on Sunday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center as they close out their January slate. Stetson took an early lead by securing the doubles point, as the duos of Marc Saura and Lucas Olivier, along with Christian Kuehne and Eder Blanco, earned decisive wins. In singles play, Kuehne, Sami Ozzor, and Xavier Sarda Marti each recorded victories. Sarda Marti, who earned his first win as a Hatter in the previous match, delivered the clinching point with a 6-2 third-set victory on Court 6 after edging out a second-set tiebreak. Four Hatters battled to a third set, with two emerging victorious—both overcoming first-set losses to help Stetson secure the win.

Doubles:
Saura, Marc / Olivier, Lucas [STETSON] def. Eduardo Dias / Boyd Schreiber [GWU] 6-2
Kuehne, Christian / Blanco, Eder [STETSON] def. Kim Niethammer / Jurie Terblanche [GWU] 6-36-4
Rodriguez Garceran, Juan Jose / Mandla, Kartik [STETSON] vs. Numa Lemieux-Monette / Kaua Cresoni [GWU] UF
Order of Finish: 1, 2, UF

Singles:
Eduardo Dias [GWU] def. Blanco, Eder [STETSON] 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Kuehne, Christian [STETSON] def. Numa Lemieux-Monette [GWU] 6-3, 6-2
Kim Niethammer [GWU] def. Haris Eminefendic, Ervin [STETSON] 6-4, 6-1
Alexandre Bergeron [GWU] def. Olivier, Lucas [STETSON] 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Ozzor, Sami [STETSON] def. Boyd Schreiber [GWU] 4-6, 7⁷-6², 6-2
Sarda Marti, Xavier [STETSON] def. Johan Van Wijk [GWU] 5-7, 7⁷-6⁴, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4
 
Words from Coach:

Well, first of all, credit to Gardner-Webb. We knew they were really good, and they showed it. From the first point to the end, they're going to have tremendous success this year—no doubt about it. It was a heck of a match, and I think the outcome showed how tough and tight it was. Doubles was extremely important. I think we played extremely well in doubles—it was fun to watch when we were actually playing our brand of doubles. It was great to see us finally put together what we've been practicing," said Christophe Noblet. "In singles, there was a moment where things could've gone south pretty quickly, but our guys really toughed it out and dug deep to push matches to a third set, giving hope to everybody else. I think that was so key. We built momentum toward the end, and I think the culture is strong. Thanks to the people who came out today—the atmosphere was awesome, and I look forward to seeing everybody at the upcoming matches."

Up Next:
Stetson will return to the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center to host the Wofford Terriers on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2:00 PM