CLEVELAND, Ohio – Whitman College men's tennis opened its NCAA Division III Championship run with a 4-0 sweep of No. 53 Asbury in Friday's first-round match, advancing in the national tournament for the second straight season.
The Blues (18-5) took control early by securing the doubles point behind wins at the No. 3 and No. 1 positions. At No. 3,
Hanri Luo and
Guillermo Rodriguez rolled to a 6-1 victory over Alejo Britos and Paolo Cargnelutti, before the nationally ranked pairing of No. 38
Alexander Stage and
Niklas Jensen clinched the point with a 6-2 decision on court one against Franco Patino and Ignacio Ardiles. The No. 2 tandem of
Artem Manov and
Charles Rush led 5-4 when the match was halted with the team point decided.
Whitman wasted little time in singles, racing out to straight-set wins on the bottom half of the lineup to close out the match played to decision. Jensen delivered the first singles point at No. 2, defeating Patino 6-3, 6-0 to push the lead to 2-0. Luo followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ignacio Murillo on court six, and Rodriguez provided the clincher at No. 4, overpowering Britos 6-0, 6-2 to seal the 4-0 result.
Three matches went unfinished with Whitman in competitive positions across the top and middle of the lineup. Stage led Ben Moore 6-1, 2-3 at No. 1 singles, Manov trailed Ardiles 6-7 (5), 0-1 at No. 3, and Rush was down 4-6, 0-2 to Andres Caceres at No. 5 when play was stopped.
#GoWhitman
