By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
RICHMOND, Ky. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team continued its blazing start to Ohio Valley Conference play, knocking off Eastern Kentucky, 7-0, Saturday afternoon in Richmond. Not only does the overwhelming win keep Tech (8-6, 3-0) perfect in conference action, but the Golden Eagles have still not dropped a point in their OVC slate, having already collected 7-0 victories against Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay.
The meeting with the Colonels (13-6, 2-1), which was a matchup between eight of the last nine conference regular season champions, saw TTU quickly take care of doubles action behind wins in two of the three battles to seize the point. The combination of Eduardo Mena and Marcos Bernardes captured a 6-3 win over Sebastian Mueller and Jan Kuehling in the No. 1 spot, while the tandem of Marc Mila and Jorge Alfonzo rolled to a 6-2 victory against Parth Aggarwal and Romain Stoffels in the No. 2 slot.
With the win, Bernardes upped his team-leading doubles record to 7-3. The No. 2 tilt between Tech's Alberto Esteban and Guillermo Nicolas, and EKU's Ramon van Flymen and Diego Asis did not finish with the tilt squared at 4-4.
Tech dropped just two sets in singles play, seizing four of the six matchups in straight-sets. No. 85 Eduardo Mena won his eighth straight singles affair thanks to a 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 nod over Ramon van Flymen out of the top spot, while Marcos Bernardes equaled Mena's three-set win with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Sebastian Mueller in the No. 2 spot.
Mena is now 12-2 this spring in singles action.
The Golden Eagles needed just two sets in the other four singles duels as Alberto Esteban, Guillermo Nicolas, Jorge Alfonzo and Marc Mila all soared to straight-set wins.
Esteban captured his fifth straight victory behind a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Parth Aggarwal in No. 3 position, and Guillermo Nicolas remained perfect in his OVC singles career with a 7-6, 7-6 nod against Jan Kuehling in the No. 4 spot.
Jorge Alfonzo took down Diego Asis, 6-3, 7-6, in the No. 5 position, while Marc Mila registered a 6-2, 6-3 win against Romain Stoffels in the No. 6 slot.
With three-straight 7-0 victories in their back pocket, the Golden Eagles will return to Cookeville for a Thursday meeting with Jacksonville State. First serve at Tech Tennis Courts is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT.
Photo by Tony Marable