BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's tennis team shook off any rust from a 15-day layoff and blanked Delaware, 7-0, in a three-hour match at Forty West Racquet Club.
The Retrievers evened their record at 2-2 on the season.
The two squads split the first two doubles matches, with UMBC prevailing at No. 3 and Delaware capturing the No. 1 flight. But UMBC juniors Jaan Kononov (Talinn, Estonia) and Melker Svard (Gothenburg, Sweden) clinched the point with a 6-4 victory in the No. 2 position.
The Retrievers won all six singles matches in straight sets. Junior Alex Drean (Bayonne, France) shook off the loss at No. 1 doubles and breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Tim Puterio at the No. 3 position. Countryman Eliott Loubatie (Paris, France) gave UMBC a 3-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph against Matt Renzi at the No. 4 flight.
Svard clinched the match for the hosts at the No. 2 position with a workmanlike 6-2, 6-4 decision over Shane Jeffray.
In his first action at the No. 1 flight this spring, Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md.) prevailed, 6-2, 7-5 over UD's Mike Furr.
UMBC entertains another CAA foe when Drexel visits the Retrievers on Feb. 14.
UMBC 7, Delaware 0
Doubles
No. 1 Tyler Flematti/Shane Jeffray, D def. Alex Drean/Daniel Gray, UMBC 7-5
No. 2 Jaan Kononov/Melker Svard def. Matt Renzi/Zack Niklaus, D, 6-4
No. 3 Justin Carter/Eliott Loubatie, UMBC def. Mike Furr/Tim Puterio, D, 6-2
Singles
No. 1 Carter def. Furr, 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 Svard def. Jeffray, 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Drean def. Puterio, 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Loubatie def. Renzi, 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 Gray def. Niklaus, 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Biyik Akinshemoyin, UMBC def. Alex Sweet, D, 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles 2,1,3*
Singles: 3,4,2*,1,5,6
*clincher
