Men’s tennis splits with HCAC foes in season opener

The Anderson University men’s tennis team lost to Rose-Hulman 5-2, but rebounded to defeat Manchester 5-0 on Sunday in a three-way Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference match at the Anderson Sports Center.

Against Rose-Hulman, Tim Cantwell won at No. 4 singles (7-5, 6-0) and the team of Cantwell and Kai McCurdy were also victorious at No. 2 doubles (9-7).

Against Manchester, McCurdy (No. 1 singles) and Mike Watts (No. 6 singles) won in straight sets. The other three Raven points were in doubles from No. 1 Blake Burke/Aaron Dicken (8-3), No. 2 McCurdy/Cantwell (8-3) and No. 3 Jake Tandy/Brad Simcoe (8-3).

Nine matches are schedule to be played against each opponent, but under new NCAA scoring rules as soon as one team scores five points the rest of the matches are stopped immediately.

AU (1-1, 1-1 HCAC) plays in the Wabash tournament on Mar. 24-25 at 9 a.m.

RESULTS

ANDERSON 5, MANCHESTER 0

Singles - 1. Kai McCurdy (A) def. Andrew Tkacs, 6-2, 6-3; 6. Mike Watts (A) def. Kyle Watson, 6-3, 6-0.

Doubles - 1. Blake Burke/Aaron Dicken (A) def. Richard/Tkacs, 8-3; 2. Kai McCurdy/Tim Cantwell (A) def. Sollenberger/Rothrock, 8-3; 3. Jake Tandy/Brad Simcoe (A) def. Foster/Schutte, 8-3.

ROSE-HULMAN 5, ANDERSON 2

Singles - 1. Rottman (RH) def. McCurdy, 6-4, 6-3; 2. Claerbout (RH) def. Burke, 6-2, 6-4; 3. Shepson (RH) def. Dicken, 6-4, 7-5; 4. Tim Cantwell (A) def. LaPlante, 7-5, 6-0.
Doubles - 1. Rottman/Claerbout (RH) def. Burke/Dicken, 8-2; 2. McCurdy/Cantwell (A) def. LaPlante/Shepson, 9-7; 3. Grubbs/Schoumacher (RH) def. Tandy/Simcoe, 8-6.