#5 FMU Men sweep Pioneers 9-0

GREENEVILLE, TN -- The fifth-ranked Francis Marion University men’s tennis team defeated Tusculum College 9-0 on Saturday morning (March 7) at the Nichols Tennis Complex.

Francis Marion, now 8-1, swept the day’s doubles matches by the scores of 8-2, 9-7, and 8-3. The Patriots then took all but one singles match in straight sets, as Tusculum’s Tom Clayton forced a third-set tiebreak against FMU’s Dirk Bair in the final pairing of the afternoon. Tusculum drops to 5-3.

The Patriots will play at Carson-Newman College on Sunday before heading back to Florence.


No. 5 Francis Marion 9, Tusculum 0

Singles
1. Oshada Wijemanne (FMU) def. Thomas Rees 6-4, 6-4
2. Dilshod Sharifi (FMU) def. Hunter Beal 6-3, 6-2
3. Karl Rogers (FMU) def. Steven Lin 6-3, 6-2
4. Mario Kieck (FMU) def. Drew Kiser 6-1, 6-2
5. Jack Bishop (FMU) def. Paulo Santos, Jr. 6-0, 6-1
6. Dirk Bair (FMU) def. Tom Clayton 4-6, 6-3, (11-9)

Doubles
1. Wijemanne/Sharifi (FMU) def. Rees/Kiser 8-2
2. Bair/Kieck (FMU) def. Henrique Rodrigues/Leo Guaycurus 9-7
3. Matthew Keth/Noah van Moerkerken (FMU) def. Lin/Beal 8-3