KENNESAW, Ga. — No. 73 Kennesaw State men's tennis tallied its 10
th win of the season in a 4-2 defeat of UAB on Friday afternoon at Betty Siegel Courts.
The Owls have now won five of their last six matches and more than matched last season's eight-win total. KSU last reached double-digit wins with 14 in 2024. In director of tennis
Matt Emery's eight seasons on the job, the Owls have now recorded 10 or more wins six times.
Despite success in recent matches, the doubles point eluded KSU in each of its last three outings. As such, the team came out with some adjustments against UAB on Friday.
"The team did a great job adjusting to new doubles pairs today," said KSU associate head coach
Simon Pritchard. "It was great to see Kyvan [Rietkerk] back in the lineup and making an immediate impact on top."
Rietkerk and
Leon Peranovic paired up to take down the Blazers' Ondrej Valek and Juan Pablo Valdez for a doubles-securing win on court one.
Ben Hudson and
Xavi Ferrer opened doubles play with a quick 6-1 win on court three.
Nathan Walters set the tone for the Owls in singles with the first of two straight-set wins. Walters notched his 10
th singles victory of the season and fourth in a row with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Axel Frechet on five. Ferrer added a No. 6 singles win over Hoan Mouret, 7-5, 6-1, for a 3-1 KSU lead.
After defeats on courts one and three, it was up to Peranovic to clinch the match on two. Peranovic defeated Valdez 6-2 in set one and bounced back from a 4-6 second-set defeat with a 6-2 showing in the third.
With two wins on Friday, the Owl freshmen trio of Walters, Peranovic and
Dominic Ducariu have combined for 26 of the team's 42 singles wins this season.
Up Next
The Owls host Lipscomb on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT in their annual Epilepsy Awareness match.
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