The 15th ranked University of Mary Washington men's tennis team defeated Stevens Institute, 5-1, on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in Amherst, Mass. The Eagles break the UMW single season for victories in a season, as they improve to 23-4 on the year.
The Eagles snared the first two points in doubles, as Michael Fleming and Patrick Hughes defeated M.J. Pabalan and Garrett Kinkaid, 8-4, and Ryland Byrd and Derek Hagino won at two over Keegan Morris and Gabriel Sifuentes, 8-5. UMW's number one duo of Moses Hutchison and Matt Miles fell in a tiebreaker, and the Eagles opened singles play with a 2-1 advantage.
UMW grabbed the first set of four of the five singles flights that reached completion. Hagino topped Arjun Krishnan at five, 6-1, 6-1, and Byrd topped Sifuentes, 6-0, 6-1, setting up sophomore Cole Tecce to gain the winner at six, 6-1, 6-0.
The Eagles will take on host Amherst on Sunday in the third round, with the winner advancing to the national quarterfinals next weekend.