BALTIMORE – Junior Biyik Akinshemoyin (Laurel, Md./Reservoir) pulled out a thrilling third-set tie-break as the host Retrievers nipped Richmond, 4-3, at the 40 West Racquet Club on February 28.

UMBC won its third consecutive match and improved to 4-8 on the spring.

The Retrievers dropped the doubles point, as the Spiders captured matches at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions to take a 1-0 lead.

UMBC got off to a great start in singles as seniors Alex Drean (Bayonne, France) and Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md.) posted straight set victories at Nos. 3 and 2 respectively. The Spiders evened the match at 2-2 with a win at No.1 singles, but senior Eliott Loubatie (Paris, France) restored UMBC's advantage with a  hard-fought 7-6, 7-6 triumph over Caleb Troy in the No. 4 hole.

Richmond would again tie the proceeding with a narrow victory at No. 6, bringing the fate of the match to the No. 5 singles contest. Akinshemoyin won the first set, 7-5, but James Aronson evened the match with a 6-2 second set triumph. The Retriever junior burst to a 5-1 lead in the third, but could not put away the Spider sophomore. He managed to prevail, 8-6, in the breaker to give the hosts the victory.

UMBC returns to home action, entertaining Valparaiso on Wednesday, March 2.  

Doubles

1. Justin Carter/Alex Drean, UMBC leading Jacob Dunbar/Canyon Teague, UR, 5-4, DNF

2. Alexandre Felisa/Jonathan Quenard, UR, def. Melker Svard/Elliott Loubatie, UMBC, 6-2

3. Caleb Troy/Brice Polender, UR, def. Biyik Akinshemoyin/Kevin Hsieh, UMBC, 6-2

Order of Finish: 2,3

Singles

1. Dunbar def. Svard, 6-4, 6-2

2. Carter def. Teague, 6-3, 6-2

3. Drean def. Felisa, 6-3, 6-1

4. Loubatie def. Troy, 7-6, 7-6

5. Akinshemoyin def. James Aronson, UR, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6)

6. A. Hahn, UR, def. Hsieh, 7-5, 6-3

Order of Finish: 3,2,1,4,6,5