Razorbacks Sweep Sunday Road Doubleheader

LINCOLN, Neb. –  The Arkansas men’s tennis team (9-2) took both matches of its road doubleheader Sunday, winning 4-0 over Nebraska (7-2) in Lincoln, Neb. before defeating Creighton, 5-0 in the nightcap.

The Razorbacks obtained the early advantage in the first match with a victory on court two as No. 31 Connor Smillie/Jakub Vrba defeated Lassila/Sysoev, 6-3. The Hogs claimed the doubles point after a 7-6 (5) win from Brendan Boland/Dmitry Kopilevich over Lamchinniah/Shearer in the No. 3 position. Eric Padgham and Ben Weintraub’s match went unfinished in the top spot with the Razorback duo in a tiebreak.

Arkansas struck first in singles play as Lukas Palovic took down Linquet in straight sets on court two, while Gabriel Elicha Navas tacked onto the lead with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Wells on court four. The match was clinched on court one, as No. 19 Vrba climbed back to defeat Sysoev, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. The remaining three courts went unfinished.

The Hogs earned the doubles point once again in the second, albeit taking more energy in the process. Koplevich/Smillie teamed up to collect a 6-2 victory over McKenzie and McMahon on court two, while Creighton answered with a 6-4 victory from Dahler/Kuo against Elicha Navas/Palovic at the No. 3 position. The doubles point came down to court one as Padgham and Weintraub clinched the point with a narrow 7-5 win over Daijima/Patel.

In singles play, Arkansas continued to roll by grabbing the first set on all six courts. At the No. 3 position, Elicha Navas defeated McKenzie 6-2, 6-4 for his eighth victory this spring, while Palovic improved to 7-1 this dual after taking down Patel in straight sets on court one. The Razorbacks sealed the win at the No. 2 position as Weintraub kept his perfect start to the season intact to obtain his sixth singles victory this spring, besting Daijima 6-0, 7-5.

The coaches allowed for Kopilevich to play his match out, as he defeated Kuo 6-2, 7-6 (4) to make the match 5-0. Padgham and Smillie’s matches went unfinished on courts five and six, respectively, as the match concluded.

Arkansas returns to action at Billingsley Tennis Center on Friday, Feb. 20 for its final tune-up before SEC play begins against Memphis at 5:30 p.m. before the first conference match on Monday, Feb. 23 in a matchup with South Carolina at 1 p.m.

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