NCAA Mens Tennis

Vols Tally Nine Wins on Day Three of Knoxville Showdown

Vols Tally Nine Wins on Day Three of Knoxville Showdown


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee’s men’s tennis team recorded nine total victories on day three of the Knoxville Showdown Saturday at Barksdale Stadium, upping its tournament win total to 23.

Tennessee graduate students Emile Hudd and Boris Kozlov logged the first win of the day for the Vols, earning a 6-4 doubles win over the Illinois pairing of Nic Meister/Kenta Miyoshi in the during the morning session. In singles play to conclude session one, UT senior Angel Diaz captured a convincing 6-1, 6-2 indoor singles win over Miyoshi.

 

Tennessee’s primary opponent in the afternoon session was made up of members of North Carolina. The Vols’ seventh-ranked doubles pairing of Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui teamed up for the first time this fall to record a gritty, 7-5 win over North Carolina’s Benjamin Kittay/Ryan Seggerman on court one.

 

Hudd and Mitsui began the match with a break on deuce point in the match’s first game. In the sixth game, down 0-30, the duo came back to hold and take a 4-2 advantage. Later, knotted at 5-all, the UT pair didn’t surrender a point while breaking UNC, and Mitsui would go on to serve out the victory.

 

Court two of doubles saw graduate students Kent Hunter and Tomas Rodriguez post a 6-4 win over UNC’s Peter Murphy/Logan Zapp. Starting with the first point of the fourth game, the UT duo won nine consecutive points, going up a break at 4-1 en route to an eventual win.

 

On the singles courts in the afternoon, Tennessee took five of seven matches. On court two, 82nd-ranked Mitsui battled for a three-set win over North Carolina’s Logan Zapp, taking it 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Mitsui took control of the third set, going up 5-0 before closing out the win. Court three saw #94 Hunter post a win in similar fashion to Mitsui, earning a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 singles victory.

 

Tennessee’s Kozlov garnered his first ranked singles win since arriving on Rocky Top, needing just 14 games to defeat #107 Karl Poling (UNC) 6-1, 6-1.

 

UT’s Diaz logged a second singles win of the day with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court five over Kittay of North Carolina. Down a break at 0-2 in the opening set, Diaz won 12 of the ensuing 15 games to close the match out.

 

The final win of the day for the Big Orange came from sophomore Gabriele Brancatelli in 6-1, 6-1 fashion over Mark Dillon (UNC).

Results

Doubles

Emile Hudd/Boris Kozlov (Tenn.) def. Nic Meister/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) 6-4

Oliver Okonkwo/Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Shunsuke Mitsui/Kent…

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Tennessee Athletics…