CHATTANOOGA (Feb. 4, 2024) – The Chattanooga Mocs men's tennis team defeated a pair of in-state opponents on Sunday afternoon inside the Strang-Voges Tennis Center at the McCallie School, downing Tennessee State 5-2 and Sewanee 6-1.
 
Following the pair of wins, Chattanooga improves to 2-3 on the season. Tennessee State dropped to 1-6 on the year while Sewanee, an NCAA DIII member who is currently ranked No. 10 in the latest ITA DIII National Rankings, remains at 0-0 as the season-opening match was an exhibition for the program.
 
Chattanooga (2-3) returns to action next weekend with a pair of home matches, first hosting North Alabama on Friday at 1 p.m. before welcoming Belmont on Sunday at Noon. Match coverage links including live scoring will be located on the schedule page.
 
Full match recaps and results from today's doubleheader sweep are below.
 
Chattanooga 5, Tennessee State 2
2/4/2024 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Strang-Voges Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Jonasz Dziopak (TSU) def. Gabriel Castillo (UTC) 6-1, 6-1
2. Jakub Jupa (UTC) def. Daniel Caraballo (TSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Ryan Mudre (UTC) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez (TSU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
4. Cortland Grove (UTC) def. Rohan Loubser (TSU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3
5. Nil Moinet (TSU) def. Kristof Kincses (UTC) 6-4, 1-0, retired
6. Walker Valentine (UTC) def. Christopher Bogelin (TSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
 
Doubles competition
1. Peyton Gatti/Jakub Jupa (UTC) def. Jonasz Dziopak/Daniel Caraballo (TSU) 7-5
2. Cortland Grove/Jordan McClure (UTC) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez/Nil Moinet (TSU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Ryan Mudre/Walker Valentine (UTC) def. Rohan Loubser/Christopher Bogelin (TSU) 6-3
 
Match Notes
Tennessee State 1-6
Chattanooga 1-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,5,2,6,3,4)
Held at Strang-Voges Tennis Center
McCallie School (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
T-3:17 A-54
 
In doubles, the No. 3 tandem of Ryan Mudre and Walker Valentine kicked off the match with a convincing 6-2 victory before the No. 2 team of Jordan McClure and Cortland Grove battled back from a 5-2 deficit to tie things at 5-5, eventually finding themselves in a 6-6 tiebreak.
 
While the tiebreak at No. 2 was commencing, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Peyton Gatti and Jakub Jupa also fought back from an early deficit to knot things at 5-5. Grove and McClure capped off the dramatic comeback with a 7-6 (7-5) victory to clinch the team point and give UTC a 1-0 lead ahead of Gatti and Jupa's eventual 7-5 win on the top court.
 
In singles, Kristof Kincses was forced to retire the match in the No. 5 spot in the second set due to injury after TSU earned a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in the match. Jupa tied things up 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles before Walker Valentine earned a 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory at No. 6 to put UTC ahead 3-2.
 
It was Ryan Mudre who clinched the team's first victory of the season with an emphatic 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 comeback win at No. 3 with the match coming down to just two tightly contested matches at that point. Cortland Grove finished things off with a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 4.
 
Chattanooga 6, Sewanee 1
2/4/2024 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Strang-Voges Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Gabriel Castillo (UTC) def. Jordan Theron (SU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Jakub Jupa (UTC) def. Peyton Erck (SU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Ryan Mudre (UTC) def. Quinn Wicklund (SU) 7-5, 7-5
4. Cortland Grove (UTC) def. Gil Weston (SU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Talman Ramsey (SU) def. Jaxon Lamb (UTC) 0-6, 7-6, 11-9
6. Ethan Carr (UTC) def. Andre-Remi Jakobi (SU) 6-3, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Peyton Gatti/Jakub Jupa (UTC) def. Jordan Theron/Quinn Wicklund (SU) 6-4
2. Jordan McClure/Cortland Grove (UTC) def. Peyton Erck/Andre-Remi Jakobi (SU) 6-4
3. Ethan Carr/Jaxon Lamb (UTC) def. Gil Weston/Talman Ramsey (SU) 6-3
 
Match Notes
Sewanee 0-0
Chattanooga 2-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,1,2,3,4,5)
Held at Strang-Voges Tennis Center
McCallie School (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
T-3:07 A-61
 
Chattanooga claimed a 1-0 lead after doubles play with Ethan Carr and Jaxon Lamb starting things with a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 slot. The No. 1 duo of Gatti and Jupa clinched the team point with a 6-4 win, defeating Sewanee's Jordan Theron and Quinn Wicklund who entered as ITA's No. 1 nationally ranked doubles tandem at the NCAA DIII level.
 
It was a dominating effort in singles play nearly across the entire board with Carr posting a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6 for the team's second point of the night before Gabriel Castillo put the third point on the board with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 over Theron. Theron was also ranked as ITA's No. 1 nationally ranked singles player in NCAA DIII.
 
The match-clinching moment came at No. 2 when Jupa capped off a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Peyton Erck. UTC added points at No. 3 and No. 4 with Mudre posting a 7-5, 7-5 win and Grove battling back for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback win, respectfully.
 
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