Blacksburg, Va. – Charlotte Men’s Tennis split a pair of matches in Blacksburg, Va. Sunday as the Niners (4-1) recovered from their 5-2 loss to host Virginia Tech (3-0) with a 4-3 victory over Bellarmine (1-4).

Charlotte clinched the win against the Knights, thanks to the three-set victory from Spencer Gray. Gray’s victory on court two was preceded by quick wins from Coy Simon and Frederic Schlossmann in singles action. Simon drubbed Xavier Ecarma, 6-2, 6-0, on court five and Schlossmann won 7-6, 6-1, against Eli Wood on court four.

The Niners only needed three singles wins after snagging the doubles point. Ivan Dreycopp and Gray won 6-4 on court two and Schlossmann and Alex Richards won 7-5 on court three for the 1-0 Charlotte advantage.

Matias Iturbe and Alex Richards went to three sets on courts three and six, respectively, but those two points went in Bellarmine’s favor.

Against the Hokies, the Niners found themselves trailing 1-0 entering singles play after dropping the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Gray got Charlotte on the board with a 6-4, 6-2 win versus Virginia Tech’s Hugo Maia on court three to make it a 2-1 score and Alex Richards earned the final point of the day for the Niners on court six with an 8-5 victory over Matt Harper.

Schlossmann finished Sunday with a 2-1 overall record, his only loss came in a hard-fought, 7-6, 4-6, 4-6 three-setter to the Hokies’ Alberto Orso. At court one, Ivan Dreycopp nearly pushed Ryan Fishback, the No. 72-ranked player according to ITA, to three sets but Fishback won 6-1, 7-6. 

UP NEXT
Next weekend, Charlotte will travel to Florida for a pair of road matches against fellow American Athletic Conference foes South Florida and Florida Atlantic. The Niners play the Bulls on Friday, Feb. 2 in Tampa, Fla. and the Owls on Sunday, Feb. 4. in Boca Raton, Fla.