Mount Olive downed by North Carolina Wesleyan

ROCKY MOUNT – The University of Mount Olive men’s tennis program suffered a 5-2 loss against North Carolina Wesleyan in a non-conference match on April 1 on the road.

With the loss, the Trojans had their three-match winning streak snapped and dropped to 9-6 this season. Meanwhile, the Bishops of NC Wesleyan clinched their eighth consecutive victory and improved to 11-6 overall.

UMO captured the doubles point winning the first and third sessions. In the first position, junior Guilherme Zotin de Oliveira and freshman Daniel Hammond posted a 6-2 win over Luca Knese and Albert Sitwell, before juniors Adam Ibrahim and Diego Ortaga Cadahia fell to Diego Segovia and Sean Keane with a score of 7-6 (7-3). In the third slot, sophomore Elios Briand and freshman Bram Poel replied with a 7-5 win against Gustavo Rivas and Thato Holmes.

NC Wesleyan had the upper hand in singles play, winning five out of six matches. In No. 1 singles, de Oliveira captured the Trojans’ only win defeating Tshepo Mosarwa 6-3, 6-4, to secure his fourth straight win in the position. In the second singles, Hammond was beaten by Segovia in three sets 4-6, 6-4 (10-8), before Ibrahim dropped to Andy Fanzaga by a 6-2, 6-4 margin. In the fourth position, senior Israel Rodriguez Rojas suffered a 6-1, 6-2 loss against Bernardo Messinea, while freshman Kabir Chhabria was forced to retire versus Vittorio Noli at a count of 7-6 (7-4), 3-0 due to injury. In sixth singles, Poel was downed by Keane in three sets with a score of 7-6 (7-3), 2-6 (10-4).

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics