University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Radford
Bulldogs Open Conference Play With Win Over Radford
03.23.2019 | Men's Tennis
Box Score
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's tennis team (14-2, 1-0 Big South) opened their Big South Conference season on Saturday, March 23, with a dominating 6-1 win over Radford at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown.
"It's always nice to get a win under your belt in the first conference match of the year," UNC Asheville men's tennis head coach Tom Hand said. "Radford's a good team. We knew that going in and they're going to surprise some people, so I'm really pleased with the way we competed. We were down in some spots, but we were able to hang around and pull out some wins. It was a good start and I'm proud of the guys. We have another tough one tomorrow with Winthrop being one of the many good teams in the Big South, so we'll have to turn around and do it again tomorrow."
The Bulldogs grabbed a quick 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Henry Patten and Olly Cull won the match at No. 1, 6-1. Sirawit Daosaengsawang and Oli Nolan followed with a 6-2 win at No. 2 to claim the point for UNC Asheville. The match at No. 3 was left unfinished.
In singles, Patten put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with a dominating performance at No. 1. The senior defeated Yevhen Sirous 6-1, 6-2 for his team leading tenth singles win of the season. Radford answered back with a win at No. 3 to make the score 2-1.
Leo Bierbaum, playing at No. 6, won the first set 6-2 before Radford's Andres Silva won set two 7-5. Bierbaum had no trouble in set three as he defeated Silva, 6-1, to give the Bulldogs a commanding 3-1 lead.
The match at No. 2 was a back and forth fight between UNC Asheville's Oli Nolan and Radford's Rodrigo Magalhaes. Nolan came up big with a 6-4 set one win, before an even bigger 7-6 set two win to clinch the winning point for the Bulldogs.
Cull at No. 5 and Charlie Morkel at No. 4 both dropped their first set before picking up wins in sets two and three to put Radford away and give the Bulldogs the 6-1 victory.
UNC Asheville has a quick turnaround as they are set to travel to Rock Hill, S.C. on Sunday, March 24, to face Winthrop at 1 p.m. The Eagles are 7-7 on the season and are 2-1 in the Big South Conference.
**Story by External Relations Intern Aaron Cantrell**
Players Mentioned
