Razorbacks Finish Nonconference Matches With Weekend Wins
Mike Ward returns the ball at the Arkansas vs. UMKC tennis match, Sunday, Feb. 17. (Photo by Logan Webster)
Hogs Finish Nonconference Games With Weekend Wins
In their final nonconference matches at the Billingsley Tennis Center, the men’s Razorback tennis team was able to pick up two wins on the afternoon.
A hot start propelled the No. 51 Arkansas tennis squad past both the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.
Strong play in doubles was overshadowed by the dominant display that the Razorbacks had in their singles matches against the two teams.
The two wins gives Arkansas a 10-3 record on the season, while the loss was ORU’s first for the year.
The Golden Eagles dropped to 6-1 while the Kangaroos fell to 5-2.
The Hogs started off undefeated in doubles play against both teams. The most dominating performance came from freshman Christian Lee and junior Pete Thomason.
The duo took on Daniil Ivonov and David Heckler of UMKC and didn’t allow a point, beating them 8-0.
Sophomore Victor Hoang and junior Mike Nott picked up the other win for the Hogs against UMKC with a 8-4 win over Conner Edwards and Tim Akhmedov.
Hoang and Nott also got a win over the ORU pairing of Nathaniel Avery and Fabian Zierlyn 8-3.
Freshman Santiago Munoz and junior Hall Fess finished the sweep in doubles with an 8-3 win over Jason Mechali and Pedro Moreno.
In singles, the Razorbacks jumped out to a huge lead against UMKC, eventually leading 5-0 after wins by Thomason, Fess, Lee and Hoang.
Lee’s win over Edwards clinched the match for the Hogs. He won with ease in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.
The Kangaroos were able to pick up points in the last two matches of the meet, as Ward and Munoz both dropped hard-fought three-set matches against Tomas Patino and Grant Fleming, respectively.
The Razorbacks continued to dominate the singles play against ORU, only dropping one of the six matches.
Thomason, a redshirt junior from Amarillo, Texas, was brilliant against Avery, not allowing a single point in a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Hoang continued the domination with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Moreno while Lee again clinched it for the Hogs against Braxton Bates.
Ward and Fess picked up two more points for Arkansas, both winning in straight sets.
The only point for ORU came from Zierlyn, who beat Munoz, making the final score 6-1.
Next up for the Hogs is a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on the Purdue Boilermakers.
It will be the final match before Southeastern Conference play begins against No. 44 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Kentucky.
The next time the Hogs will be in Fayetteville will be March 8 and 10 against Alabama and Auburn, respectively.
