MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's fourth-seeded men's tennis team won a pair of doubles matches and all three completed singles matches to defeat No. 5 seed Denver, 4-0, in the first round of the Sun Belt Championships in Mobile, Ala., Friday morning.

The victory was the third straight over the Pioneers in the first round of the conference tournament and sets up a possible second-round match-up with top seed and tournament host South Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts on the USA campus. Middle Tennessee has lost the past two years to the Jaguars in the championship match of the tournament.

The Blue Raiders started the match by winning doubles matches at Nos. 1 and 2, as Daniel Klemetz and Brandon Allan defeated Urban Ljubic and Nejc Smole, 8-4, at No. 1, while Kirk Jackson and Anant Sitaram secured the point for Middle Tennessee with an 8-3 triumph at No. 2 over Jason Tan and Colin Day. Trevor Short and Michael Staniak's match against Hans Peter Gaber and Viktor Zetterholm at No. 3 did not finish.

The 16^th-ranked Klemetz started the singles competition with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Ljubic at No. 1, while Sitaram defeated Zetterholm, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 4. Brandon Allan also got a point with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 6 over Day.

Jackson's match versus Smole at No. 2, Staniak's tilt against Gaber at No. 3, and Rishan Kuruppu's outing with Tan at No. 5 did not finish.

The two wins for Klemetz gives the senior 175 combined victories in his career, placing him in a third-place tie with Julius Robberts on the all-time list. Klemetz needs four more wins to tie former Blue Raider and current assistant coach David McNamara for second place on the all-time list.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 4, DENVER 0

SINGLES

1. (16) Daniel Klemetz (MT) def. Urban Ljubic (DU), 6-1, 6-2

2. Kirk Jackson (MT) vs. Nejc Smole (DU), DNF

3. Michael Staniak (MT) vs. Hans Peter Gaber (DU), DNF

4. Anant Sitaram (MT) def. Viktor Zetterholm (DU), 6-3, 6-3

5. Rishan Kuruppu (MT) vs. Jason Tan (DU), DNF

6. Brandon Allan (MT) def. Colin Day (DU), 7-5, 6-3

DOUBLES

1. Klemetz-Allan (MT) def. Ljubic-Smole (DU), 8-4

2. Jackson-Sitaram (MT) def. Tan-Day (DU), 8-3

3. Trevor Short-Staniak (MT) def. Gaber-Zetterholm (DU), DNF

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