No. 56 men's tennis runs streak to six with win over Tulane

NEW ORLEANS - The No. 56 Middle Tennessee men’s tennis team collected its sixth-straight victory with a 4-3 win over Tulane on Saturday afternoon at the Goldring Tennis Center. The streak equals the longest of a regular season since the 2009 campaign, when MT won six in a row to end the regular season, then added three more in the postseason for a nine-match winning streak.

“Our team showed an incredible amount of mental toughness today,” head coach Jimmy Borendame said. “We overcame some adversity between the heat and the rowdy crowd, but we were able to pick up two big road wins this weekend and that says a lot about how our team’s mental toughness has developed throughout this season.”

Ben Davis made it seven consecutive wins in the top spot with a 7-6, 6-1 victory over Tulane’s Idan Mark, which proved to be the clinching point for the Blue Raiders (14-6). Matthew Langley (6-3, 6-4), Ettore Zito (7-6, 6-2) and Dimitri Pippos (7-6, 6-1) also won in straight sets. MT was especially clutch in tiebreakers, winning three of four, with all three coming in the first set of action.

Christoph Lang and Ben Davis combined for an 8-3 doubles win, but the Blue Raiders were unable to pick up the doubles point after dropping the other two matches. With Tulane (10-9) leading 1-0 heading into singles action, Zito landed the equalizer before Pippos made it a 2-1 MT advantage. Langley’s singles performance gave the Blue Raiders a 3-1 edge, but the Green Wave claimed the next two matches to pull even, leaving Davis to finish things out for MT.

The Blue Raiders wrap up the home portion of the season on Tuesday with a 1 p.m. match against No. 59 UAB. MT will honor its lone senior, Matthew Langley, at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center. All MT home matches are free and open to the public.

#56 Middle Tennessee 4, Tulane 3
Singles competition
1. Ben Davis (MT) def. Idan Mark (TUL) 7-6, 6-1
2. Matthew Langley (MT) def. Joe Young (TUL) 6-3, 6-4
3. Shaye Wali (TUL) def. Christoph Lang (MT) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
4. Ettore Zito (MT) def. Adam Bernstein (TUL) 7-6, 6-2
5. Rodrigo Rappaccioli (TUL) def. Forrest Edwards (MT) 7-6, 6-1
6. Dimitri Pippos (MT) def. Cedric Rutsaert (TUL) 7-6, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Joe Young/Idan Mark (TUL) def. Marlon Brand/Yannick Born (MT) 8-6
2. Christoph Lang/Ben Davis (MT) def. Adam Bernstein/Takuma Ohashi (TUL) 8-3
3. Shaye Wali/Rodrigo Rappaccioli (TUL) def. Ettore Zito/Matthew Langley (MT) 9-7

Match Notes
Middle Tennessee 14-6; National ranking #56
Tulane 10-9
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,6,2,5,3,1)

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