University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
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UNC Asheville Invitational
Men’s Tennis to open Spring Season this weekend
02.05.2021 | Men's Tennis
Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian to compete in Asheville Invitational
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – After its season was cut short last March due to COVID-19, the UNC Asheville men's tennis team returns to the court this weekend, opening up its spring 2021 season with the Asheville Invitational. Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian will travel to Asheville as the three teams will compete on Saturday and Sunday at the Asheville Racquet Club.
"This will be a great opportunity for us to get some competitive matches under our belt," said Asheville head coach Tom Hand. "It's been a long time for a lot of these guys and I know they are looking forward to it."
In 2019-20, the Bulldogs had posted a record of 8-6 overall and was 1-0 against conference opponents, grabbing a 4-3 victory over Winthrop. The men's squad won five of its last six matches, topping Keiser 4-3 before the season was unfortunately cut short.
Among the crop of returners is Charlie Morkel, going 8-6 at singles competition in 2019-20. Morkel was named the Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year as a junior (2020), going 6-4 at the No. 1 position and 2-2 at No. 2 singles. Another key returner for the Bulldogs is junior Leo Bierbaum who posted a record of 9-4 in 2019-20, with his nine wins being a team-best before the season was cut short. Bierbaum has racked up some accolades over the years, named Second Team All-Big South Singles in 2019 after being named Freshman of the Week twice, going 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Oli Nolan is one of three seniors on the team (Finlay Ray McFayden, Morkel), going 5-1 at the No. 2 singles position as a junior.
The action begins at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown, with the teams finishing up play on Sunday.
Stay tuned to uncabulldogs.com for all the results.
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