Indianapolis, IN - After splitting a pair of matches Saturday to start the season, the Toledo men's tennis team won its second-consecutive match by a score of 4-3 over Butler on Sunday.
The Rockets start the season with a 2-1 record and will travel back to Indianapolis on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with No. 16 Illinois.
"We thought this was going to be a competitive match and it surely was," UT head coach Al Wermer said. "After a slow start, the guys dug in and really fought hard. Grant, Nicky, Tomas and Francisco responded really well to complete a nice opening weekend."
Toledo's performance in doubles competition was the slow start Wermer described. UT was swept in doubles, while the No. 2 team consisting of seniors Bryant Dudzik and Terence Weigand did not complete their match. Sophomores Tomas Stillman and Nicky Wong went down by a score of 8-1 to Butler's Austin Woldmore and Billy Weldon. Sophomore Grant Adams teamed up with redshirt freshman Ryan Jorgensen to put up a better fight, but they were defeated 8-5 at the No. 3 spot.
The Rockets regrouped in singles play, as Senior Francisco Stuardo recorded his first-career win as a Rocket. The junior-college transfer defeated Butler's Pulok Bhattacharya in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 2 position.
Stillman, Wong and Adams each recorded their second win of the season to lift UT past the Bulldogs. Stillman claimed the No. 1 match over Woldmoe, 7-6(3). Adams and Wong both earned hard-fought victories in the No. 3 and 4 spots, respectively. Adams defeated Tommy Marx, 7-6(6), 6-3, and Wong had to use a third set to beat Brandon Woods, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Sophomore Roberto Meza and junior Ben Brocker were taken down in the final two matches of singles play.
Doubles
No. 1 Woldmoe/Weldon def. Stillman/Wong 8-1
No. 2 Marx/ Bhattacharya vs. Dudzik/Weigand 6-6 UNFINISHED
No. 3 O'neill/Woods def. Adams/Jorgensen 8-5
Singles
No. 1 Stillman def. Woldmoe 7-6(3), 6-4
No. 2 Stuardo def. Bhattacharya 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Adams def. Marx 7-6(6), 6-3
No. 4 Wong def. Woods 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 O'neill def. Meza 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 Weldon def. Brocker 7-6(2), 6-1
Toledo: 4
Butler: 3
