BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's tennis team returned from its trip to Texas and blanked a tough Temple side, 7-0, at 40 West Racquet Club on Friday evening, Jan. 31.
With the victory, UMBC improved to 2-1 on the young season.
The Owls captured the evening's first doubles match at the No. 3 position, but UMBC's No. 2 tandem of junior Daniel Gray (Bowie, Md./The Bullis School) and sophomore Alex Drean (Bayonne, France) evened the score with a 6-2 triumph. The deciding match was captured by UMBC's No. 1 duo of Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md./National Connections Acad.) and Melker Svard (Gothenburg, Sweden), 6-4. The Retriever sophomores broke serve at 4-4, then held to win the match.
Carter and Drean wrapped up their singles matches in tidy fashion to push the Retrievers' advantage to 3-0. At the No. 1 position, Carter upended Temple's Vasconez, 6-3, 6-2, while No. 3 Drean cruised over Paulus, 6-0, 6-4.
Svard clinched match for UMBC with a 5-6, 6-3, 6-3 decision at the No. 2 position.
Freshman Biyik Akinshemoyin (Laurel, Md./Resevoir) registered his first victory as a Retriever with a 5-6, 6-5, 10-5 verdict at the No. 6 slot.
"I am really proud of our team tonight as they were well prepared to compete against a very tough Temple team," head coach Rob Hubbard said. "Everyone was focused and ready to do battle. Winning all seven points against a team with the strength of Temple is an excellent sign of what we are capable of this season."
The Retrievers travel to Norfolk, Va. for a Sunday afternoon match versus Old Dominion.
