ORLANDO, FL. - The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team (4-7, 0-0 NEC) defeated Illinois Wesleyan (3-5, 0-0 CCIW) 6-1 on Thursday at the USTA National Campus.
The Knights faced the Titans in three doubles matches played in eight-game pro sets and five traditional singles matches. In doubles, graduate student Moric Budinszky and freshman Justas Trainauskas fought to secure the win, defeating Illinois Wesleyan's Zeke Cross and Josh Cortez, 8-0. Also gaining a doubles win was sophomore Arjun Sriram and redshirt senior Niclas Pietsch, as they defeated Ryan McCoy and Nair Shanku, 8-1. Rounding out doubles play was senior Mehdi Dhouib and sophomore Younes Adnane who battled Illinois Wesleyan's Demetrios Triantafel and Carter Burk to win 8-2.
FDU started off with a bang in singles action with five straight wins. Freshman Thomas Linley took the court and got a win, knocking off McCoy, 6-1, 6-0. Budinszky faced Burk, and won, 6-0, 6-0. Dhouib sealed the win for the Knights as he dominated the Titans' Triantafel, 6-1, 6-0. Junior Taiga Koyama and freshman Fernando Tardin finished their day off with victories in singles play. The Knights defaulted the No. 6 position.
Next up
The Burgundy and Blue will travel to Queens, N.Y. to face Queens College on Monday, March 21, at the Queens College Indoor Tennis Center.
Box score
Doubles
1. DHOUIB, Mehdi/ADNANE, Younes (FDU) def. Triantafel,Demetrios/Burk, Carter (IWU) 8-2
2. SRIRAM, Arjun/PIETSCH, Niclas (FDU) def. McCoy, Ryan/Nair, Shanku (IWU) 8-1 3. BUDINSZKY, Moric/TRAINAUSKAS, Justas (FDU) def. Cross, Zeke/Cortez, Josh (IWU) 8-0
Singles
1. DHOUIB, Mehdi (FDU) def. Triantafel,Demetrios (IWU) 6-1, 6-0
Singles
2. BUDINSZKY, Moric (FDU) def. Burk, Carter (IWU) 6-0, 6-0
3. LINLEY, Thomas (FDU) def. McCoy, Ryan (IWU) 6-0, 6-1
4. TARDIN, Fernando (FDU) def. Nair, Shanku (IWU) 6-0, 6-3
5. KOYAMA, Taiga (FDU) def. Piotrowski, Justin (IWU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Sibley-Diggs, Jordan (IWU) def. No player (FDU), by forfeit
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,2,1,5,4)
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