Philadelphia—The UMBC men's tennis team went into America
East Tournament play on a high note, as the Retrievers finished the
regular season with a 5-2 victory at Temple.
UMBC completed the regular season with a record of 8-8, while
Temple slipped to 6-12.
"It's a good thing to go into the conference tournament on a
winning note," head coach Rob Hubbard said. "We looked sharp in
doubles and followed up well with some good singles play. Melker Svard's
come-from-behind victory at No. 2 was a nice highlight in the match
against a tough Temple team."
UMBC's top doubles tandem of senior Gaulthier
Berret (Lagny Sur Marne, France) and freshman Justin Carter
(Randallstown, Md.) got the match off an excellent start with
a 8-1 victory over Hicham
Beckssir/Hernan Vasconez, 8-1. Sophomore Daniel Gray
(Bowie, Md./The Bullis School) and freshman Alex Drean
(Bayonne, France) clinched the doubles point for UMBC with an 8-5
triumph at the No. 3 doubles position.
Drean and Berret gave UMBC a 3-0 lead by winning in straight
sets at the Nos. 3 and 4 positions respectively. Then Svard
(Gothenburg, Sweden) clinched the proceedings as he overcame a 6-3
first-set loss to knock off Kristian Marquart, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Gray joined Drean and Berret at 2-0 on the day and gave UMBC its
fifth point when he defeated Sam Rundle, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 6
singles.
UMBC went 3-1 vs. Philadelphia-based teams in 2013, also
knocking off Drexel and St. Joseph's, while falling to Penn.
Seedings for the America East Tournament, to be hosted at the
UMBC Tennis Complex the weekend of April 26-28, will be announced
later this week.
