Hale paces Bishops in two league wins, women drop pair

Rocky Mount, NC - Dustin Hale (pictured), the lone senior member of the North Carolina Wesleyan men's tennis team, did his part to help his 23rd-ranked Bishops to two USA South victories over the weekend, going 2-0 in both singles and doubles play versus Ferrum and Greensboro, respectively. With the victories, Wesleyan's perfect record remains in tact at 10-0 overall, 4-0 in league play. On the women's side, the Bishops (1-11, 0-6 USAC) dropped the pair of matches by 6-3 and 8-1 scores.

On Saturday versus Ferrum, head coach Dominic Modise was able to get many of his underclassmen some much-needed playing experience. First-year players Evginiy Bukatin, Ludvig Wahlund, Artem Alexandrov, and Dominic Forsdike were all straight-set winners at #1 through #4 singles, while Hale and sophomore Kalpesh Patel also won in straights at #5 and #6 to complete the sweep.

The Bishops had previously raced out to a 3-0 lead in doubles action. Bukatin/Wahlund were 8-2 winners at the top seed, while Alexandrov/Hale turned in an 8-0 win at the third slot. Sophomore Brandon Coleman teamed with Forsdike for an 8-2 win at the second seed.

In women's action, sophomores Jaime Galasso and Leila Heinonen tallied all three of Wesleyan's points as they recorded an 8-6 win at #1 doubles and straight-set wins at #1 and #2 singles, respectively.  Unfortunately, Ferrum was able to take the remaining six available points for a 6-3 win.

On Sunday versus Greensboro, the Bishop men again jumped out to a 3-0 lead in doubles play as Antii Saari/Alexey Rumyantsev, Bukatin/Wahlund, and Hale/Forsdike tallied victories. Wesleyan then cruised to the sweep with straight-set wins at #1 through #5 singles as Rumyantsev, Bukatin, Wahlund, Ilpo Kautonen, and Hale were victorious. The Pride's lone point came at #6 singles where Josh Strable defeated Patel 6-4, 6-3.

On the women's side, junior Joanne Youngblood recorded Wesleyan's lone score with a 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 win at #4 singles.

Next up for the NCWC men and women is a road trip to Averett University on Monday if the weather cooperates. The matches are slated for a 2:00 p.m. start in Danville, VA.