Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Match 1 Results (PDF)
Match 2 Results (PDF)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Citadel men's tennis team closed out the long road swing to start the season by dropping a pair of 7-0 matches at the University of Tennessee on Sunday afternoon. The doubleheader against Tennessee marked the third Southeastern Conference (SEC) team the Bulldogs have faced in the span of just over a week.
"Most people don't understand why I play such tough competition here early in the year. And yes, I'm hoping that we can get some wins sometime soon. However, we played against the team today that I want The Citadel to be like," said head coach
Chuck Kriese. "Tennessee absolutely had the best ground games and the toughest points played without any mental checkouts at all of anybody we've played against so far this year. Trying to score against their ground game was very much like trying to score touchdowns against Alabama's defense in football.
"That being said, we played tough, we played hard, we got into many tough long and physical rallies and we pushed some sets to the end," Kriese continued. "We were not able to close and we got tight when we needed to stay aggressive. I told the guys that Tennessee is an accurate mirror that will show us exactly where we are at. We saw a lot of good things and we are getting closer each week. Credit goes to a well-coached Tennessee team. I don't know if there are many finer coaches than
Chris Woodruff. He was a great champion as a player and has become a tremendous coach. I'm hoping we have good weather for this weekend's match against Eastern Washington. It would be great to be able to play them in good conditions outside at home on Saturday."
The day started at 1 p.m. with Tennessee claiming the doubles point as
Preston Touliatos and
Adam Walton defeated The Citadel's
Willem van Zyl and
Gavin Stewart 6-2 at No. 1 doubles while
Timo Stodder and
Luis Valero defeated
Matthew Henson and
Will Graham 6-1 at No. 2. The third doubles matchup was suspended with the two sides knotted at 3-3 between
Nicaise Muamba and
Andrew Rogers against
Trey Davis and
Noah Nawabi.
In singles action, van Zyl went up against Stodder, ranked #36 in the nation, falling 6-2, 6-0.
Roy Hobson took on Touliatos at No. 2 falling 6-4, 6-1 while Henson fell 6-0, 6-0 to Muamba at No. 3 singles. Pyrtiz fell 6-0, 6-0 to Adam Walton at No. 4 singles, Nawabi fell 6-2, 6-2 to Rogers and Stewart rounded out the Bulldogs' lineup, falling 6-0, 6-0 to
Luca Wiedenmann.
In the day's second match, UT once again took the doubles point, but this time all three doubles matches played through to conclusion. Touliatos and Walton went up against Henson and Hobson at No. 1 doubles with the Volunteers taking the match 6-1. At No. 2, van Zyl and Stewart gave Rogers and Muamba quite the fit, barely falling 6-4. Nawabi and Davis joined forces at No. 3 doubles and fell 6-3 to Stodder and Wiedenmann.
In singles action, Hobson bumped up to No. 1 singles to take on 36
th-ranked Stodder, falling 6-1, 6-2. Van Zyl fell 6-1, 6-2 to Touliatos at No. 2 singles while Henson fell 6-2, 6-1 to Walton at No. 3 singles. Stewart took on Muamba at No. 4 singles, falling 6-3, 6-2 while Pyritz fell 6-1, 6-1 to Wiedenmann at No. 5 singles. Graham put up a solid fight at No. 6 singles as he fell to Rogers by a score of 7-5, 6-2.
UP NEXT
After opening the season with nine straight matches on the road, the Bulldogs will finally play their first home match on Saturday, Jan. 27 against Eastern Washington.
For more information and score updates on The Citadel men's tennis team, follow @CitadelOlympic on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.
