Golden Eagles put together dominant showing in OVC opener with EIU

Men's Tennis

Eastern Illinois

Tennessee Tech

Doubles

MENA, Eduardo / BERNARDES, Marcos (TTU)
def. KINGSMITH, Gage / REIMAN, Grant (EIU)

6-4

ESTEBAN, Alberto / NICOLAS, Guillermo (TTU)
def. REIMAN, Trent / AMMER, Ferdinand (EIU)

6-2

ALFONZO, Jorge / TAJES, Carlos (TTU)
def. WOODSON, Jared / WENDELL, Jacob (EIU)

FINAL - UNFINISHED

Singles

MENA, Eduardo (TTU)
def. KINGSMITH, Gage (EIU)

6-2, 6-1

BERNARDES, Marcos (TTU)
def. JANJUSIC, Marko S. (EIU)

6-3, 6-3

ESTEBAN, Alberto (TTU)
def. REIMAN, Grant (EIU)

6-3, 6-2

NICOLAS, Guillermo (TTU)
def. WOODSON, Jared (EIU)

6-3, 6-2

MILA, Marc (TTU)
def. REIMAN, Trent (EIU)

6-2, 6-2

TAJES, Carlos (TTU)
def. DAVIS, Braden (EIU)

6-1, 6-1

full stats

Posted: Mar 18, 2017

By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team unwrapped its conference season in impressive fashion Saturday afternoon, routing Eastern Illinois, 7-0, in the 2017 home opener. With the win, TTU moves to 32-3 in its last 35 home matches.

The Golden Eagles (6-5, 1-0) came out strong in doubles play thanks to wins in the top two spots to seize the point, before capturing all six singles matchups without even dropping a set to the Panthers (2-15, 0-2).

Junior Eduardo Mena rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 nod in the top spot over Gage Kingsmith, bumping Mena's singles mark to 9-2, the most wins on the squad. Mena's victory was part of a promising trend for the Golden Eagles that saw Tech not only take each set, but not allow a Panther to win as much as four games in any matchup.

Carlos Tajes was strong out of the No. 6 spot with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Braden Davis, while freshman Marc Mila provided Tech with more punch in the back of the lineup with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Trent Reiman in the No. 5 slot.

The rest of the Golden Eagles soared with ease as Marcos Bernardes knocked off Marko Stefan Janjusic, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 2 position, Alberto Esteban took down Grant Reiman, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 3 spot, and sophomore Guillermo Nicolas registered a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the No. 4 matchup. After an unblemished season a year ago, Nicolas moved his OVC career singles record to 10-0.

In doubles action, Eduardo Mena and Marcos Bernardes teamed up for a 6-4 win against Gage Kingsmith and Grant Reiman in the No. 1 spot, while the tandem of Alberto Esteban and Guillermo Nicolas powered past Trent Reiman and Ferdinand Ammer in the No. 2 slot. The No. 3 doubles tilt pitting Jorge Alfonzo and Carlos Tajes against Jared Woodson and Jacob Wendell did not finish.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Golden Eagles as Tech will travel to North Florida for a Monday night match with the Ospreys, the final non-conference affair of the year. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. CT.

Photo by Jim Dillon