The Chattanooga Mocs men's tennis team opened Southern Conference play with a 6-1 victory over The Citadel on Sunday afternoon at its home UTC Tennis Center on campus.
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 7-10 overall and begins SoCon action 1-0 for the seventh-straight season. The Citadel drops to 6-16 overall and 1-3 inside league play after the defeat.
The Bulldogs earned a quick 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point with victories coming at the No.
1 and No. 3 positions. The No. 2 duo of Cortland Grove and Jordan McClure posted a 6-3 win to open the doubles format before the two Citadel wins.
It was all Chattanooga in singles play with a clean sweep of all six matches in straight sets. The No. 4-6 trio of Grove (6-4, 6-2), Kristof Kincses (6-1, 6-2) and Walker Valentine (6-2, 6-3) gave the hosts a 3-1 lead in the match before the top trio capped things off.
Ryan Mudre (6-3, 6-3) clinched the match for the Mocs with a win at No. 3 before Jakub Jupa (6-2, 7-5) earned the team's fifth point with a win at the No. 1 slot. Gabriel Castillo (7-6 (3), 6-4) finished things off with a hard-fought win in the No. 2 spot.
Chattanooga (7-10, 1-0) returns to action on Friday with a home match against SoCon foe Samford at the UTC Tennis Center. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start with live video and stat links available on the schedule page.
Chattanooga 6, The Citadel 1
3/17/2024 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (UTC Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Jakub Jupa (UTC) def. Hayden Shoemake (CIT) 6-2, 7-5
2. Gabriel Castillo (UTC) def. S. Kamieniecki (CIT) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
3. Ryan Mudre (UTC) def. Teo Cariov (CIT) 6-3, 6-3
4. Cortland Grove (UTC) def. Noah Van Dyke (CIT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Kristof Kincses (UTC) def. Ted Bagwell (CIT) 6-1, 6-2
6. Walker Valentine (UTC) def. Lucas Robins (CIT) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Hayden Shoemake/S. Kamieniecki (CIT) def. Peyton Gatti/Jakub Jupa (UTC) 6-4
2. Cortland Grove/Jordan McClure (UTC) def. Ted Bagwell/Teo Cariov (CIT) 6-3
3. Lucas Robins/Noah Van Dyke (CIT) def. Gabriel Castillo/Kristof Kincses (UTC) 6-4