Men's tennis sweeps Hawaii in season opener

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Sweep Hawaii In Season Opener

HONOLULU (SMU) – The SMU men's tennis team swept Hawaii 7-0 in its season-opening match at the UH Tennis Complex on Sunday.

"We had a terrific training week these past eight days," said Head Coach Grant Chen. "We enjoyed the beautiful conditions here in Honolulu, and the boys have been hungry to get started with the season. It was great to see some high-impact returners in action mixed in with some new faces who will play significant roles. There is plenty of action on deck for us, with four home matches at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in the next ten days."

With the win, the Mustangs move to 1-0 on the season in the NCAA's first match of the year.

Four Mustangs – Trevor Svajda, Maks Silagy, Eric Hadigian and Jerry Barton – all earned their debut wins at SMU.

All Mustangs competing in singles defeated their opponents in straight sets.

Senior Liam Krall picked up the Mustangs' first singles point of the afternoon, shutting out Andy Hernandez (6-0, 6-0). Hadigian quickly followed, earning SMU's second singles point over Andrew Somerville (6-3, 6-0).

"It feels great to win our first match of the season on the road here in Hawaii," said Hadigian. "This trip has been incredible and we are excited to start prepping for our upcoming matches later this week."

Svajda, the nation's No. 1 recruit, defeated Hawaii's Quinn Snyder (6-2, 6-2), while junior Louis Cloud captured court 6 against Blue Cockle (6-1, 6-1). Silagy followed up with a victory on court 5 over Sohta Urano (6-1, 6-0).

"I am excited to get my first win as a Mustang," said Svajda. "I look forward to a season of many more team and individual wins with these guys."

Barton wrapped up play for the Mustangs with a win over Karl Collins (6-1, 7-5). The Furman transfer came back from behind (3-2) in the second set to take home court 3 in the closest singles set of the match.

SMU also swept the doubles action of Sunday's dual match.

Silagy and Barton got the Mustangs its first doubles point of the afternoon in dominant fashion over Collins and Urano (6-0). Next, Julian Steinhausen and Huntley Allen clinched doubles for SMU with a 6-1 win over Cockle and Angus Hill in their return to the courts together.

Senior Captain Adam Neff and Svajda joined forces in the third and final set of doubles, beating Snyder and Hernandez 6-3.

SMU returns to action for its home-open double-header versus Prairie View A&M on Thursday at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. Thursday's first match is set to begin at 11 a.m. with the following match to begin at 3 p.m.

Singles Scores:
Trevor Svajda def. Quinn Snyder (6-2, 6-2)
Liam Krall def. Andy Hernandez (6-0, 6-0)
Jerry Barton def. Karl Collins (6-1, 7-5)
Eric Hadigian def. Andrew Somerville (6-3, 6-0)
Maks Silagy def. Sohta Urano (6-1, 6-0)
Louis Cloud def. Blue Cockle (6-1, 6-1)

Doubles Scores:
Trevor Svajda/Adam Neff def. Quinn Snyder/Andy Hernandez (6-3)
Maks Silagy/Jerry Barton def. Karl Collins/Sohta Urano (6-0)
Julian Steinhausen/Huntley Allen def. Cole Kurata/Blue Cockle (6-1)