Men's Tennis Sweeps Sunday Doubleheader Against Wichita State, Lamar

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team (8-2) swept its doubleheader against Wichita State (2-3) and Lamar (4-3), defeating the Shockers 4-3 before a 4-0 victory over the Cardinals (4-3) Sunday at Billingsley Tennis Center.

Wichita State grabbed the early advantage in the opening match with wins on courts one and three to obtain the doubles point. Connor Smillie and Jakub Vrba earned their fourth victory of the season after a 6-3 win against Hodzic/Luethi at the No. 2 position. The Shockers responded with Jacome/Minarik defeating Božo Barun and Marino Jakic in the top spot while Bracks/Worthington closed it out at the No. 3 position after a 6-4 victory over Jean-Baptiste Badon and Lukas Palovic to clinch the doubles point.

The Razorbacks quickly responded in singles play, taking the first set on all six courts and eventually securing the match with four consecutive singles wins. On court four, No. 85 Vrba picked up his sixth dual victory after a commanding 6-3, 6-3 win against Worthington, while Jakic grabbed a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Jacome at the No. 3 position.

On court five, Arthur Bellegy cruised to a straight-set win against Al Mashni to put the Hogs within one point of claiming the match. Arkansas clinched the match at the top spot as Barun took down Hodzic in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Wichita State earned two singles points at the No. 2 and 5 positions with Palovic and Smillie both falling in three sets to close out the match.

The Hogs took the early lead in the second match versus Lamar with a doubles sweep. Bellegy and Emesz teamed up to obtain a dominant 6-1 victory over Drapeau/Ledesma on court three, while Jakic and Smillie picked up a 6-4 win against Anthin/Nickel in the top spot to secure the doubles point for the Razorbacks.

Emesz coasted to his third singles victory of the spring, defeating Anthin 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 position to add to the Arkansas lead. Smillie followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Hamacher on court five, while Bellegy clinched the match for the Razorbacks after a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Omori-Cowie at the No. 3 position.

The Hogs travel to The Volunteer State next weekend to face Memphis on Friday, Feb. 7 at 5:30 p.m. before a doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 9 against MTSU at 12 p.m. and Tennessee State at 6 p.m.