Blue Raiders round out tourney

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Middle Tennessee men's tennis team won six singles matches on Sunday to round out play at the North Florida Spring Invitational.

Senior Morgan Richard helped lead the way defeating Jacksonville's Victor Vaz 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Junior Richard Cowden defeated Graham Edgar of UNF 6-3, 6-3 while sophomore Kyle Wishing won his match 7-6, 6-1 over JU's Aroon Khatter.

"I am very proud of all the guys. We came to Florida with a goal in mind to train hard and get in a lot of matches. We accomplished all of that. We won 5 out of the 6 flights in singles and 1 out of the 3 flights in doubles today. In the tournament, we were 22-2 in singles and 6-3 in doubles," head coach David McNamara said.

Newcomers Robert McKenzie, Victor Melo and Matthew Langley each won their matches on the final day of action.

Junior Alex McCann suffered the only singles loss for the Blue Raiders as he fell 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 to Marc Misanovic of UNF.

In doubles action, the Blue Raiders lost two of their three matches with Langley and Melo providing the only win. The pair defeated Marcos Chiaretti and Kurt Gattiker 8-4.

"The competition is just what we needed. We should be able to build confidence from these matches. There are still some players who have a lot of room for improvement and they know who they are," McNamara said. "The biggest challenge we face is the different things the team and each individual needs to work on. I hope I do not have to address this through out the season."

The Blue Raiders will have a couple of weeks off before beginning dual match play at home on Jan. 23 when they face Chattanooga and Tennessee Tech at Nashboro Village in Nashville, Tenn.

Complete Results
Singles
Rob McKenzie (MTSU) def. Jordi Ballester (JU) - 6-2, 6-3
Victor Melo (MTSU) def. Francisco Riveroll (JU) - 6-1, 6-2
Morgan Richard (MTSU) def. Victor Vaz (JU) - 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Matthew Langley (MTSU) def. Murilo Souza (JU) - Default
Richard Cowden (MTSU) def. Graham Edgar (UNF) - 6-3, 6-3
Marc Misanovic (UNF) def. Alex McCann (MTSU) - 6-1, 3-6, 7-6
Kyle Wishing (MTSU) def. Aroon Khatter (JU) - 7-6, 6-1

Doubles
Federico Levi/Marc Misanovic (UNF) def. Richard Cowden/Morgan Richard (MTSU) - 8-4
Matthew Langley/Victor Melo (MTSU) def. Marcos Chiaretti/Kurt Gattiker (UNF) - 8-4
Graham Edgar/Ronnie Sang (UNF) def. Alex McCann/Kyle Wishing (MTSU) - 8-3

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