It’s not always how you start, but how you finish.

Tennessee men’s tennis emerged victorious over Chattanooga, 6-1, on Wednesday. The Vols (6-4) finished up their out-of-conference schedule with wins in four of their last five matches, while the Mocs (1-4) have started 1-1 in a stretch where they play five matches in nine days.

Play opened outside amid intermittent drops of rain and overcast skies at the Barksdale Tennis Stadium. The doubles session was dreadful for Tennessee, as it was outplayed and outcompeted on all three courts. Chattanooga broke early on each court and took 3-1 leads across the board before a 10-minute stoppage due to light rain. During the break, the Mocs were talkative and energized; the Vols, conversely, stared off into the distance and quietly waited for play to resume.

The break did the Vols no favors, as Chattanooga kept their level as play resumed. The Mocs cruised to wins on Court 1, 6-1, and Court 3, 6-3, and they were in firm control of the match on Court 2 with a match point at 5-2 prior to play being suspended.

“They were ready to play, they wanted it, we weren’t ready,” associate head coach Matt Lucas said. “Credit to them, they took it to us. We were still in the locker room, I think, and they played some really good doubles, and we played some really uninspiring doubles, is what I would say.”

After the end of the doubles session, the lineups were announced for singles, and play was delayed as rain again fell. With the courts taking on too much moisture, play was shifted into Goodfriend Tennis Center.

For the singles session, Jose Garcia and Jan Kobierski came in for Dragos Cazacu and Piotr Siekanowicz. Otherwise, Alejandro Moreno, Boruch Skierkier, Ethan Muza and Shion Itsusaki pulled double duty, competing in both singles and doubles.

Early in the session, Chattanooga still very clearly rode the wave of momentum it had claimed during doubles. Emotions were up, stuck close to their opponents and were quite vocal for teammates while locked into battle.

Slowly but surely, the Vols would turn the tide and the energy of the session in their favor. The primary catalysts for the boost in energy were Kobierski and Muza, who were both very passionate and energetic from the very start of their contests.

While Muza clinched his opening set with ease, 6-1, Kobierski was locked into battle with Cortland Grove — and the chair umpire. Twice did the sophomore dispute an out call with the chair umpire, pleading for overrules on calls he believed to be incorrect. Though his protest fell on deaf ears, he was able to overcome the disputes, and he took a tight opening set, 6-4.

Everywhere else, the Vols took control of their matches, and Tennessee took each opening set across the singles session.

Muza and Kobierski were the first two to clinch for the Vols, finishing their matches within a span of two minutes. Muza finished off his match, 6-3 in the second set, while Kobierski cruised to victory, 6-1 in the second set.

After his match, Muza grabbed a towel and a bag of ice for his right foot and limped around for the rest of the session, cheering on his teammates.

“Incredible courage to come out and play in singles,” Lucas said. “He was willing to gut it out for the team, and that’s what it’s all about, that’s what Tennessee is all about.”

On the No. 1 court, Moreno played a very steady brand of tennis to win his match 6-4, 6-4 over big-hitting Jakub Jupa, putting Tennessee within one point of victory.

The dagger came from Skierkier, who dictated play with his forehand and played a very strong, controlled match to win 6-3, 6-3 over fellow Argentinian, Martin Delnido. At one point during his match, he drew applause and a strong message from his head coach, Chris Woodruff, following a lengthy and abrasive rally.

Garcia fought hard against Julian Franzmann and outbattled his opponent for a 7-5, 6-4 win. The sophomore again started slow, but he found his level and rode strong play from the baseline to wrestle control of the match at pivotal moments in each set.

On the outermost court, Itsusaki capped off the rally for the Vols with a 7-6 (1), 7-5 win over Kristof Kincses. It was a tight contest throughout, but the freshman overwhelmed the senior with a dominant forehand late in each set to close things out.

Though the Vols swept the singles, they were pushed hard by the visiting Mocs, and coach Lucas said it was a good test right before conference play.

“We don’t want matches where it’s just easy, because moving forward, starting Saturday, there’s no easy matches,” Lucas said. “Every match in the SEC is difficult, and so hopefully we got a little taste and a little preparation for that, and so I’m glad that they pushed us and we had to kinda be resilient in some spots.”

Tennessee will open SEC play against Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington.