The No. 13 ranked Tennessee Vols men’s tennis team took on Middle Tennessee on Thursday night in Murfreesboro, defeating the Blue Raiders, 5-2. The Vols continued their hot start, with transfer Ian Cruz delivering the match-clinching point for Tennessee.
The Vols’ newcomers, who saw their first action on Monday against Tennessee Tech and Belmont, once again led the way in doubles for Tennessee. Transfer Alex Kotzen and freshman Jose Garcia made quick work of Middle Tennessee’s Rostislav Halfinger and Kacper Szymkowiak, 6-1.
Veteran returners Shunsuke Mitsui and James Newton followed up the effort with a 6-4 victory over the Blue Raiders’ Shu Matsuoka and Jakub Kroslak. Mitsui and Newton clinched the all-important doubles point for Tennessee, giving the Vols the edge heading into singles play.
The duo has won both their doubles matches so far and will look to build on their start as the experienced leaders and veteran presence for the Vols.
Mitsui and Kotzen entered Thursday’s match at No. 18 and No. 34 in the national singles rankings, and both collected wins over the Blue Raiders.
Kotzen shined again in singles, besting No. 98 ranked junior Karim Al-Amin, 6-3 and 6-3. He clinched Tennessee’s first singles point of the evening, followed by Mitsui’s defeat of Kroslak.
Mitsui is picking up right where he left off last season and continues to climb the ranks among Tennessee tennis legends. His 110 career singles wins are good for 10th all-time in program history.
Freshman Jose Garcia wrapped things up for the Vols with a 7-6, 6-4 win over junior Ondrej Horak. Garcia is undefeated through three matches to start the year between both singles and doubles and continues to impress on the court.
Cruz came in for transfer Alejandro Moreno against Halfinger and defeated the Middle Tennessee senior 7-6 and 6-3 to get the match win for the Vols. While Tennessee got off to a slow start early in their singles matches, the team’s poise and talent allowed it to endure the match and find a victory in Murfreesboro.
Jan Kobierski and Alan Jesudason didn’t fare as well for Tennessee, being quickly bounced by Matsuoka and Szymkowiak respectively in two sets each. The new Vols got behind early and could not make up the difference.
Thursday’s match marked the first loss of the season for both Kobierski and Jesudason, though Kobierski and Newton went unfinished in doubles on Monday against Belmont. The duo will look to bounce back on Sunday when Tennessee travels to Winston-Salem for a showdown with the No. 4 ranked team in the country in Wake Forest.
