CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs men's tennis team cruised to a 7-0 sweep over The Citadel in the Southern Conference opener for both squads on Friday afternoon at the UTC Tennis Center.
 
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 3-6 overall this season and 1-0 in the SoCon. The Citadel falls to 2-9 overall and 0-1 within league play.
 
"I'm really proud of the guys today for taking care of all positions in singles and doubles," said head coach Chuck Merzbacher. "Great start to the SoCon season and it was a solid effort across the board."
 
Chattanooga took the early 1-0 lead following doubles play after all three tandems earned victories in their respective matches. Much of the same occurred in singles play with UTC claiming straight-set victories in five of the six matchups.
 
Simon Labbe battled to a 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 tie-break winner in the No. 2 singles spot after the No. 3 slotted Kerim Hyatt clinched the team match with a 6-1, 6-1 rout. Jordan McClure (6-2, 6-0) and Peyton Gatti (6-1, 6-3) picked up singles wins in the No. 5 and No. 4 slots, respectively, to help UTC race to the elusive four-point clinching tally.  

Chattanooga returns to action on Sunday, February 27, when it hosts Presbyterian at 12:00 p.m. ET at the UTC Tennis Center. Live stats and results will be posted at the designated link, HERE. For any weather updates and schedule changes, stick to GoMocs.com.
 
CHATTANOOGA 7, THE CITADEL 0
DOUBLES
1. Tomas Rodriguez/Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Hayden Shoemake/Leo du Plooy (CIT) 6-2
2. Kerim Hyatt/Kaisei Kuroki (UTC) def. Sebastian Kamienieck/Zvonko Bencedic (CIT) 6-4
3. Simon Labbe/Jordan McClure (UTC) def. Everett Barkley/Bradey Minnich (CIT) 6-1
 
SINGLES
1. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Hayden Shoemake (CIT) 6-4, 6-2
2. Simon Labbe (UTC) def. Zvonko Bencedic (CIT) 2-6, 6-1, 10-6
3. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) def. Sebastian Kamienieck (CIT) 6-1, 6-1
4. Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Leo du Plooy (CIT) 6-1, 6-3
5. Jordan McClure (UTC) def. Josh Wallen (CIT) 6-2, 6-0
6. Ryan Mudre (UTC) def. Bradey Minnich (CIT) 6-0, 6-2
 
MATCH NOTES
The Citadel 2-9, 0-1 SoCon
Chattanooga 3-6, 1-0 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,3,6,2,1)
Held at UTC Tennis Center
T-2:04 A-31

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