DAVIDSON, N.C. — Off since Feb. 27, the Davidson men’s tennis team showed no affects from the extended layoff, cruising to their third straight 7-0 win, this one coming over Chattanooga in Southern Conference play on Saturday afternoon at the Knobloch Indoor Tennis Center.
The Wildcats, starting a five-match homestand, earned their first league win of the season to improve to 1-1, 7-3 overall. Chattanooga fell to 1-9 overall and 0-3 in the SoCon. Davidson also evened the all-time series mark at 9-apiece.
Davidson, which last played two matches on Feb. 27, came out and captured the doubles point to set the tone for the afternoon. The ‘Cats No. 1 team of
Eric Noble (Fayetteville, N.C.) and
Joe Schafer (Orchard Park, N.Y.) pushed their win streak to three straight with an 8-6 win, while the team of
Walker Lyons (Wallingford, Pa.) and
Calum Gee (Ayr, Scotland) sealed the doubles point with an 8-5 victory. The duo also have a three-match win streak and own a team-best 8-1 doubles mark.
The strong play continued in singles action, where Davidson swept all six matches. Noble tallied an easy 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Chris Smith, while Schafer registered his seventh singles win of the year with a 6-4, 7-6 win at No. 1. The freshman is now 4-1 at the top singles spot this year for the ‘Cats.
Lyons needed an extra set, but still was able to push his win streak to three straight after a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at the No. 2 position over Roberto Vieira. Three of Lyons’ six singles wins have come at the No. 2 spot.
Gee continued his hot play as of late, rolling to his seventh straight singles win after a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5. The sophomore ran his record to 7-1 on the season (2-0 SoCon), second-best on the team to freshman
Chris Mark (Union City, Calif.), who also cruised to a two-set win. Mark, who earlier this year had a five-match win streak, ran his current win streak to four straight after a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sam Parfitt at No. 4. The freshman is 9-1 on the year.
Rounding out the winning afternoon was senior
Sam Burns (Banner Elk, N.C.) with his third singles win in a row. and sixth win overall, after scoring a 6-1, 6-4 decision over Rick vande Bovenkamp at the No. 6 spot.
Davidson ran its team singles record to 43-12 overall and 9-3 in league play after the sweep of the Mocs.
The Wildcats continue their five-match homestand with a 3 p.m. match against The Citadel on Mar. 24.