No. 1 doubles team defeats region’s best
After early-season struggles, the University of Indianapolis men’s tennis team (9-9, 1-2 GLVC) claimed a victory over St. Joseph’s College (12-6, 0-3 GLVC) on April 2.
The Greyhounds came out of doubles play strong. At No. 1, Christian Nikou and Pete Wilson defeated their Puma opponents 8-5, while the No. 2 doubles team of Jeff Price and David Schoch took an 8-3 victory. Completing the Greyhounds doubles sweep were Trevor Cox and Alex Poe, who claimed an 8-2 win at No. 3.
“We’ve done some rearranging with our doubles,” said Head Coach John Venter. “It’s all about figuring out who plays well together, where our strengths are and then using those to our advantage.”
Singles play was led by wins from Cox, Nikou and Poe at No. 1, 2 and 4, respectively.
Cox took down Puma opponent Ishan Gohil in a come-from-behind victory with match scores of 2-6, 6-3 and 6-0. Nikou overwhelmed opponent Miguel Belcina with 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Poe also came-from-behind to win at No. 4 against Puma Joseph Scott.
The previous day saw a Greyhound loss at home against regionally ranked Lewis University (7-2, 2-0 GLVC). While the team did not take home a win, impressive on the day was the Nikou and Wilson victory at No. 1 doubles. The pair defeated the Lewis’ top-ranked doubles team in the Midwest.
Poe and Cox took a win at No. 3 doubles to give the Greyhounds an early lead on the day.
As singles play commenced, UIndy only garnered wins from Cox and Price, at No. 2 and 5, respectively. The Flyers bested the Greyhounds at No. 1, 3, 4 and 6 singles, giving Lewis a one point victory.
“We’ve got a large 13 man roster,” Venter said. “But, it’s also a young roster. We are continuing to make changes and decide where each of the guys fits best.”
To open their GLVC play, the Greyhounds faced Northern Kentucky University (11-2, 2-0 GLVC) on March 26. The Greyhounds fell to the Norse, 7-2, at home.
Nikou and Price won at No. 1 doubles.
The pair defeated the No. 8 team in the region 8-5.
“We are pretty strong in doubles,” Price said. “And, if we want to be successful in our upcoming games we need to focus on doubles points.”
As singles play progressed, UIndy’s only victory came from No. 6 singles. Preston Swain earned UIndy its sole singles point, defeating his Norse opponent Ricardo Weaver 6-3, 6-0.
Although Swain was the only Greyhound to best his opponent in singles play, several Greyhounds took their matches into tiebreaker rounds before ultimately being defeated by their Norse opponents.
The Greyhounds will continue play against University of Southern Indiana (7-5, 2-1 GLVC) and non-conference Northwood University on April 8 and 9 at the UIndy Tennis Center.
“They are both really good teams,” Price said. “So, we’ve got to be tough and be ready to play.”
