MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's 34th-ranked men's tennis team swept all three doubles matches and all six singles tilts, defeating Chattanooga 7-0 Saturday afternoon at the Racquet Club of Murfreesboro. The Blue Raiders played without Andreas Siljestrom, ranked 48th in singles and third in doubles, because of an ankle injury. Siljestrom should be able to return next week at Virginia Tech.
Middle Tennessee got off to a good start with three doubles wins, including a come-from-behind effort at No. 3.
Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn won handily at No. 1 over UTC's Ryan Fitzgerald and Razvan Axente, 8-2. Marco Born, Siljestrom's usual doubles partner, and Greg Pollack won the final three games to defeat Badr Bouabdellah and Artyom Vlasenko, 8-5.
At No. 3 Rishan Kuruppu and Marc Boiron were down 5-1 in a tiebreaker with Mark Fynn and Michael Hangstefer, but the Middle Tennessee won the final six points to take the tiebreaker, 7-5.
In singles action, the Blue Raiders won all six matches, including the final two in a pro set.
Born, ranked 98th in singles, struggled but came back to defeat Fynn, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1. Kuruppu won his singles outing, 6-4, 6-4, over Fitzgerald at No. 2.
Schledorn won a hard-fought match with Vlasenko at No. 3, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Allan defeated Bouabdellah, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 4.
Pollack won 8-3 against Axente at No. 5, and Morgan Richard made his Blue Raider debut with an 8-2 victory over Hangstefer at No. 6.
"I thought for the first match it was OK," head coach Dale Short said. "We could have played a little smarter in places. I thought we played real good at one and two doubles, and we played better [in singles] as the matches went on."
Middle Tennessee plays again tonight at 6:30 p.m. against Belmont at the Racquet Club of Murfreesboro. The Blue Raiders hit the road next Saturday, facing Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. in Blacksburg, Va.
#34 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 7, CHATTANOOGA 0
Singles
1. (97) Marco Born (MT) def. Mark Fynn (UTC), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
2. Rishan Kuruppu (MT) def. Ryan Fitzgerald (UTC), 6-4, 6-4
3. Kai Schledorn (MT) def. Artyom Vlasenko (UTC), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
4. Brandon Allan (MT) def. Badr Bouabdellah (UTC), 6-3, 6-3
5. Greg Pollack (MT) def. Justin Azente (UTC), 8-3
6. Morgan Richard (MT) def. Michael Hangstefer (UTC), 8-2
Doubles
1. Allan-Schledorn (MT) def. Fitzgerald-Axente (UTC), 8-2
2. Born-Pollack (MT) def. Bouabdellah-Vlasenko (UTC), 8-5
3. Kuruppu-Marc Boiron (MT) def. Fynn-Hangstefer (UTC), 9-8 (5)
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