NORFOLK, Va. - The No. 61 Old Dominion men’s tennis team (4-3) stunned No. 34 Dartmouth College (5-3) in thrilling fashion by a 4-3 score, while Adam Moundir upset the No. 18 nationally ranked singles player in the country in straight sets on Sunday afternoon at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
On Court No. 1, Adam Moundir proved to be too much for the No. 18 nationally ranked singles player in the nation, Dovydas Sakinas (6-4, 6-4). Last year, Sakinas was named the Ivy League Player of the Year after becoming the first Dartmouth men’s tennis player to qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship since 1994.
Dartmouth came to Norfolk after impressively taking down three top 75 nationally ranked teams, including a 4-3 win over No. 32 Tulane two weekends ago. With the victory, the Tennis Monarchs remain perfect 4-0 at home for the 2016 season.
“This was a great team win for us, against a good Dartmouth team,” said Old Dominion head coach Aljosa Piric. “We pride ourselves on being fighters and staying in matches and today we did just that. To lose a doubles point and bounce back against a tough team like this shows the character we are starting to develop.”
The Big Green started the match by jumping out to an early a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point, but the Monarchs came firing back after winning three straight singles matches in straight sets, to bring the overall score to 3-1. Old Dominion’s Michael Weindl made quick work of Ciro Riccardi at the No. 2 spot winning 6-1, 6-3. Moundir then gave Piric’s Tennis Monarchs a 2-1 lead. Over on Court No. 5, ODU’s Zvonimir Podvinski got the better of Dartmouth’s George Wall in convincing fashion (6-1, 6-2), giving ODU a 3-1 advantage.
With the clinching point on the line, it was ODU’s freshman Aziz Kijametovic who rose to the occasion when he defeated Dartmouth’s senior Brendan Tannenbaum. Kijametovic battled back after losing the first set 5-7 to claim the second 7-5, and ultimately wore down Tannenbaum to win the third set 6-3.
NEXT UP FOR THE TENNIS MONARCHS
Old Dominion will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 19, when the Tennis Monarchs host a double head against ECU (12:00 p.m.) and then Howard (5:00 p.m.) at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
Tennis Match Results
#61 Old Dominion: 4, #34 Dartmouth: 3
DOUBLES
1. Doyvdas Sakinas/Roko Glasnovic (DART) def. Adam Moundir/Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) 6-3
2. Michael Weindl/Jacob Nicolussi (ODU) vs. Brendan Tannenbaum/George Wall (DART) unfinished
3. Max Schmidt/Max Fliegner (DART) def. Darragh Glavin/Theophile Lanthiez (ODU) 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1
SINGLES
1. Adam Moundir (ODU) def. No. 18 Dovydas Sakinas (DART) 6-4, 6-4
2. Michael Weindl (ODU) def. Ciro Riccardi (DART) 6-1, 6-3
3. Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) def. Brendan Tannenbaum (DART) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
4. Max Fliegner (DART) def. Javier Jover Maestre (ODU) 6-2, 7-5
5. Zvonimir Podvinski (ODU) def. George Wall (DART) 6-1, 6-2
6. Max Schmidt (DART) def. Jacob Nicolussi (ODU) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 6
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