#5 NCWC Suffers First Loss of Season at #13 JHU

Alexey Rumyantsev and Robert Kjellberg
Alexey Rumyantsev and Robert Kjellberg

Baltimore, Md. - The 5th-ranked Battling Bishop men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season Sunday afternoon, dropping a 6-3 decision at #13 Johns Hopkins University. JHU erased a 3-0 deficit in doubles play by sweeping singles action.

Currently ranked #2 and #3 in the region, the two squads did not disappoint in providing fans with an exciting match. The region's top-ranked doubles team of Alexey Rumyantsev and Robert Kjellberg continued to impress with an 8-2 win at the #1 seed. NCWC's Viktor Selander/Rinat Khussainov and Marcelo Prata/Anton Filonov were also winners by 8-2 and 8-5 scores at the second and third seeds, respectively.

Up 3-0, the Bishops looked poised to keep their perfect record in tact, but the Blue Jays swept singles play for an improbable come-from-behind victory. JHU, which boasts four of the top-10 singles players in the region, got three-set victories at the top three seeds to secure the upset.

Previously on Saturday, Wesleyan had cruised to a 9-0 sweep of Averett University in USA South play.  The same three doubles tandems were victorious, while Kjellberg, Khussainov, Rumyantsev, Fred Lemongo, Selander and Clayton Sonn were all straight-set winners in singles action.

Wesleyan is now 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference standings. The Bishops return to action on Wednesday when they host Washington College at 2:00pm at the Slick Family Foundation Tennis Complex.