The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team scored a 5-2 win over Belmont at the Baylor School Indoor Courts today.  The Mocs evened their overall record at 3-3 and snapped a five-match losing streak to the Bruins.
Junior Niklas Gerdes and freshman Tomas Rodriguez cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles to open the afternoon action.  The rest of the doubles point was hotly contested. 

Belmont evened things up at No. 1 when Marko Ilic and Joan Valy beat junior Simon Bustamante and freshman Kerim Hyatt 6-3.  That left the No. 3 match on the court to decide the point.  It went back-and-forth, but senior Pablo Llebeili and sophomore Jacob Marshall were able to pull it out 7-5. 

Gerdes and Rodrguez improved to 4-0 in doubles this fall, while Llebeili and Marshall won for the third match in a row to move to 3-2. 

Singles 1-4 were first up on the four indoor courts.  With a 1-0 lead, UTC need to split the six matches for the team win. 

The first sets were even in the first four matches, but three of those would go on to a third frame.  Rodriguez gave the Mocs a 2-0 lead with his win at No. 2.  He needed a 7-1 tiebreaker in the second set to get the [6-2, 7-6 (1)] win. 

The Mocs went up 3-0 when Bustamante battle back to score a three-set victory at No. 4.  He defeated Vincent Sterkens (1-6, 6-3, 6-4). 

Next off the court was the No. 3 match between Hyatt and Joan Valy.  Hyatt opened with a 6-4 win in the first set, but Valy took the second 6-3.  Valy held a 5-2 lead in the third, but Hyatt stormed back to force a tiebreaker.  Hyatt was up 5-3 in the breaker, but Valy eventually took the match [6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8)].

While all of this was going on, Gerdes was in a battle of his own with Ilic in the next court at No. 1.  Gerdes opened with a 6-4 win in the first set, but Ilic bounced back with a 6-4 win in the second.  Gerdes then used a break early in the third set to take the match (6-4, 4-6, 6-4). 

"It was a solid win for the program today," stated head coach Chuck Merzbacher.  "It was a team win across the board, starting with a huge doubles point.  The singles play was close on every court and really everyone stepped up.  Lots of positives here for the Mocs."

Up next or the Mocs is a trip to UNC Asheville tomorrow.  Chattanooga faces the Bulldogs at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown at 3:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) on Sunday, Feb. 10.  Be sure to check back to GoMocs.com for complete results after the match. 

Chattanooga 5, Belmont 2
02/09/2019 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Baylor School Indoor Courts)
Singles competition
1. Niklas Gerdes (UTC) def. Marko Ilic (BELM) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
2. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Zak Khan (BELM) 6-2, 7-6 (7-1)
3. Joan Valy (BELM) def. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8)
4. Simon Bustamante (UTC) def. Vincent Sterkens (BELM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Jake Briggs (BELM) def. Jacob Marshall (UTC) 8-6
6. Pablo Llebeili (UTC) def. David Faulkner (BELM) 8-3

Doubles competition
1. Marko Ilic/Joan Valy (BELM) def. Simon Bustamante/Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-3
2. Niklas Gerdes/Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Jake Briggs/David Faulkner (BELM) 6-1
3. Jacob Marshall/Pablo Llebeili (UTC) def. Grant Kelly/Zak Khan (BELM) 7-5

Match Notes
Belmont 4-4
Chattanooga 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,4,1,3,6,5)
T-3:27 A-37