Men's Tennis Hosts Belmont at Eastern Hills

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's tennis hosts it first home match of the season on Saturday, January 26, when the Musketeers face Belmont at Eastern Hills Indoor Tennis Club. The match with the Bruins is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.

MATCH NOTES: BELMONT

Belmont stands at 2-1 on the season, after opening the season with a road match at Memphis where the Bruins fell, 6-1. Belmont bounced back for a pair of home wins, over Southern Utah, 4-0, and Martin Methodist, 4-1.
The Bruins finished the 2017-18 season with a 14-11 overall record.
Belmont was picked to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll. Additionly, three Bruins, junior Henrik Inno, sophomore Marko Ilic and junior Vincent Sterkens, were included on the OVC Preseason Player Top-10 Rankings.
Belmont did not face off against the Musketeers last season, but both teams participated in the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals and Louisville Invitational this past fall.
This marks the first home match of the 2019 Spring season for Xavier.

UP NEXT

The Musketeers return to the road on Saturday, February 2, when the Musketeers travel to Ball State for a noon match.

LAST TIME OUT: CHICAGO ST.

With Sunday's match at Ohio State canceled due to weather, Xavier was last in action Saturday, January 12 when the Musketeers picked up a win over Chicago State in the second game of a double-header at Michigan State, moving to 1-1 on the season.
CSU took the 1-0 early lead after taking wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in doubles to claim the doubles point.
Xavier pulled back into a 1-1 draw after Jack Dykema won the No. 2 singles spot in two sets, 6-2, 6-4, over Jakov Suler.
In the No. 1 singles spot Brett Winters won, 6-1, 7-5, over Felix Savard to put the Musketeers ahead 2-1.
Chicago State pulled back into a draw, 2-2, with a win in the No. 3 spot for George Botha over Matthew Graft, 6-2, 6-4.
After a second set that went to multiple tiebreakers in the No. 5 spot, CSU pulled back ahead 3-2, with Gontalo Martinez's 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over Michael Lee.
Xavier pulled even 3-3, with a win in the No. 6 spot for Dominic Macaluso, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
The Musketeers claimed the win in the No. 4 spot after Connor LaFavre came back from falling 6-3 in the first set, to win, 6-1, 6-4, in the final two sets.

UP NEXT

The Musketeers return to the action on Saturday, January 26 when Xavier hosts Belmont at the Eastern Hill Indoor Tennis Club at 4:30 p.m.

THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier's roster is deep with upper-classmen, with three seniors and two juniors. Returning seniors include Jack Dykema, Connor LaFavre, and Trent Smith. Juniors Matthew Graft and Michael Lee also return.
Sophomores Brett Winters and Jan Vrba return for the Musketeers.
Xavier also added freshmen Dominic Macaluso and Oliver Weaver.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS

Xavier opened the fall invitational tournament at the Greater Cincinnati Invitational at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Brett Winters posted a strong performance, sweeping the No. 1 flight. Overall, Xavier went 12-9 in singles play and won six doubles matches.
At the Dayton Hidden Duals, the Musketeers came away with team wins over two of the three teams, picking up dominant wins over NKU, 7-1 and Wright State, 6-1, while falling 7-2 to the Flyers.
Four Musketeers competed in the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals at Tennessee, with Jack Dykema and Brett Winters advancing to the round of 32 in the 128-person main draw. Connor LaFavre and Matthew Graft also competed in the main draw in both singles and doubles. In doubles, the pair took Vanderbilt's Ross and Srabert to five tiebreakers before falling narrowly.
Xavier closed the fall at the Louisville Invite, where the Musketeers collected 23 wins and had a competitor advance to the consolation final in all four singles flights.

Schedule

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Dykema

Matthew Graft

Connor LaFavre

Michael Lee

Dominic Macaluso

Trent Smith

Jan Vrba

Oliver Weaver

Brett Winters