Fredericksburg, Va. - The North Carolina Wesleyan men's tennis team officially kicked off its spring season over the weekend, taking on a trio of nationally-ranked opponents at the University of Mary Washington. The Bishops knocked off #26 Denison by a 7-2 score to highlight Saturday's action, while top seeded Robert Kjellberg and Sebastian Sikh posted 3-0 records in singles play en route to USA South Player and Rookie of the Week accolades.

NCWC opened play on Saturday morning versus top-40 Stevens. With four of the Bishops' six starters playing their first career dual matches, nerves were evident early on as SIT jumped out to a 3-0 lead in doubles play. The Ducks' 9-7 win at the 3rd slot would eventually prove to be the difference in the match.

Wesleyan settled in to take four of six matches in singles action, led by Kjellberg's victory at the top seed over Matt Heinrich, who is ranked #2 nationally (6-0, 6-7, 6-0). Sikh, freshman Fabio Pereira and junior Eduardo Ugalde were straight-set winners at the #2, #3 and #5 seeds, respectively.

The Bishops rebounded to post an impressive 7-2 win over #26 Denison. The duo of Kjellberg/Sikh and Pereira/Gomez picked up wins at #1 and #2 doubles, and all four were again victorious in singles play. Freshman Fernando Nardelli rounded out Wesleyan's scoring with a straight-set win at #4 singles.

NCWC wrapped up play on Sunday versus #15 Mary Washington. All three Bishop points came in singles play, with Kjellberg, Sikh and Andres Gomez all tallying wins. Kjellberg's victory came over the Eagles' Tyler Carey, who is currently ranked #20 nationally.

With two of his three singles wins coming over nationally-ranked players, Kjellberg picked up his first USA South Player of the Week honor of the season on Monday. Sikh joined him as the league's Rookie of the Week.

Wesleyan (1-2) travels to Division I Winthrop University next Sunday. The match is slated for a 4:00pm start.