Nicholasville, Ky. – The Transylvania men's tennis team opened up the 2021 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Conference Tournament with a decisive 8-1 win over the Manchester University Spartans on Tuesday afternoon at Top Seed Tennis Court in a first-round match.
The tournament No. 3 seed Pioneers advance to this weekend's HCAC semifinals to face No. 2 seed Rose-Hulman on Saturday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m. at Top Seed Tennis Club after a thunderous beginning to the conference postseason on Tuesday.
"It was great to start the HCAC Tournament with a win," said Transylvania men's tennis head coach Kevin Calhoun. "Manchester plays hard and we feel good about where we are. Now we will set our sights on a very strong Rose-Hulman team. We are prepared to give that match everything we have on Saturday."
Transylvania stormed to a commanding advantage in doubles play as Nick McNamee and Noah McNamee defeated Isaac Miller and Samuel Hollingsworth in No. 1 doubles play, 8-0. Arjun Gupta and Jon-Michael Schulte delivered an 8-5 win in No. 2 doubles over Andrew Kibler and Austin Arnold, while Hunter Gregg and Jared Wells won by default in No. 3 doubles.
Gupta emerged victorious in No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Miller and Noah McNamee put the Pioneers over the top in No. 2 doubles with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Hollingsworth.
Schulte wrestled a 7-1 tiebreaker win in the second set for a straight-set sweep of Kibler in No. 3 singles, while Gregg fell in the deciding third set against Arnold in a 10-5 tiebreaker of a compelling No. 4 singles affair. Wells wrapped up a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Trevor Johnson in the No. 5 slot while Lane Thomas won by default at No. 6 singles for the eighth and final match.
Transylvania will meet Rose-Hulman for the second time in the 2021 season on Saturday in their 2:30 p.m. postseason matchup. The Saturday contest also pits an HCAC Tournament rematch between the two teams, who last faced off in the semifinals of the most recently-held HCAC Tournament in 2019. The winner advances to Sunday's HCAC Championship match for a chance to clinch the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
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