ST. LOUIS – MBU men's tennis picked up back-to-back victories on Friday, besting both University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy and Bethel (Kan.).
MBU first faced the Eutectics at the Vetta West racquet club. MoBap won at No. 1 and No. 3 singles to earn a team point.
Milos Vuckovic and
Dragan Omcikus handled Caden Hillman and Gavin Brown, 6-1, while
Lucas Kzam and
Donald Feick secured their first win as a duo, 6-0, against Alec Johnson and Anirudh Kalathil.
The Spartans dropped the match at No. 1 singles in three sets as Vuckovic couldn't quite chase down Alvaro Montijano in the third and final set, losing 7-6, 1-6, 7-10. That would be the end of the Spartans woes against UHSP as they won the next three singles matches. Omcikus defeated Hillman 6-2, 6-2, at No. 2 singles. At No. 3 singles
Timofey Tokmakov took down Gavin Brown in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. The Spartans locked up the victory at No. 4 singles as
Filip Petrovic was on fire winning 6-0, 6-0. Both teams agreed to halt play once the match had been decided therefore the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches weren't not completed.
During the night cap MBU continued their stellar play against a very competitive Bethel (Kan.) squad. MoBap secured the doubles team point with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. At No. 2 doubles Tokmakov and Petrovic finished their match first, winning 6-3. The No. 1 doubles match needed tiebreakers to determine the winner as Vuckovic and Omcikus won 7-6 over Michael Cech and Milan Bucek.
The Spartans went on to win at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 singles to lock up the match. Vuckovic took down Cech 6-1, 6-2 during the No. 1 singles bout as Omcikus put away Bucek 6-2, 6-3, to put the Spartans one match away from ending the match. Just like in the first match, both coaches agreed to end the match once the winning team had been decided. Tokmakov finished things off for MoBap after battling out his first set, 7-5, against Nolan Schrader and dominating the second 6-0.
MBU men's tennis will get 11 days of rest before they take the courts against Evangel University on Mar. 22 in Springfield, Mo. The match is set to begin at 1:30 PM.
