Gambier, Ohio - The 12th-ranked North Carolina Wesleyan men's tennis team opened its 2012 spring season over the weekend with impressive victories over a pair of top-20 teams. The Battling Bishops began with a dominating 7-2 win over #19 Case Western University on Saturday, then turned in a 5-4 upset of #7 Kenyon College on Sunday.

Against 5th-ranked Kenyon, the Bishops took a 2-1 lead in doubles play thanks to wins at the #1 and #3 positions. At the top seed, the 3rd-ranked duo of Robert Kjellberg/Alexey Rumyantsev downed Kenyon's Michael Razumovsky/CJ Williams 8-4, while NCWC's Anton Filonov/Marcelo Prata defeated Tim Rosensteel/Josh Stiles 8-5 at the #3 seed.

Kenyon managed a three-set win at #1 singles with #26 Paul Burgin upsetting #24 Kjellberg. The two teams then split straight setters at #2 through #5 singles for a 4-4 tie, making the three-set win at #6 by NCWC junior Clayton Sonn the clincher. Sonn downed Austin Griffin 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Previously on Saturday versus Case, the Spartans took a 2-1 lead in doubles play as Filonov/Prata tallied Wesleyan's lone point with an 8-6 victory at the 3rd seed. Wesleyan, however, swept singles play with six straight-set winners for the 7-2 final.

Now 2-0 on the season, the Bishops will open up the home portion of their schedule on February 25th when they host Guilford College at 1:00pm.