Tennessee men’s tennis defeated Belmont in round one of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday 4-1, taking all three singles wins in straight sets.
With the win, the Vols (21-7, 10-2 SEC) kept their season going and advanced to the round of 32 for the fifth straight NCAA Tournament, moving a step closer to a fourth straight NCAA Super Regional appearance under head coach Chris Woodruff.
The Vols opened the day by cruising in doubles to take the point and an early 1-0 lead in the match. No. 4
Blaise Bicknell was the only Vol to fall in a dominant performance duo Johannus Monday and Pat Harper finished first with a 6-2 win on court one while Angel Diaz and Martim Prata followed suit with a 6-1 win on court three.
Diaz’s doubles performance carried over to singles with a win on court five in straight sets for his 20th singles win of the dual season, which leads the team.
With a 2-0 lead, Tennessee lost its only court when Blaise Bicknell fell on court three, but the dominoes began to fall in the Vols’ favor from that point on.
Recently crowned SEC Player of the Year Johannus Monday trailed 0-2 by a break early, but he took 12 of the next 14 games en route to a 6-4, 6-0 win and a 3-1 match score.
Tomas Rodriquez delivered the clinch on court six with a 6-2, 6-4 win to advance the Vols to the second round.
The Vols will be back in Barksdale Stadium to face a familiar foe in Wake Forest. The two sides have faced off in each of the last two seasons during indoor season, but the Demon Deacons got the better of the Vols earlier this year in a close 4-3 contest. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST on Sunday.
