EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 43rd-ranked McKendree University men's tennis team won its third consecutive match here Saturday afternoon by posting a 6-1 win over Southern Indiana in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the USI Tennis Courts.
With the win, McKendreee improved to 15-2 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC, while USI fell to 9-8 overall and 0-4 in the league. The 15 wins are the most in a season for the Bearcats since winning 16 matches in 2014-15. The school record for wins is 20, which was set in both 2010-11 and 2011-12.
USI opened Saturday's match by winning two of the three doubles matches to earn the doubles points and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In doubles, McKendree's No. 1 team of junior
Leonardo Frederico ((Tujucas-Santa Cantrina, Brazil/UniCesumar) and graduate student
Boriss Kamdem (Ghent, Belgium/University of Tulsa), who are ranked 40th in Division II, fell 6-1 to USI's Spencer Blandford and Preston Cameron, while the No. 2 team of junior
Lorenzo del Biondo (Pescora, Italy/Abraham Baldwin College) and sophomore
Julappagari Anurag Reddy (Dubai, UAE/CBSE School Nationals) fell 7-5 to Marvin Kromer and Lucas Sakamaki.
McKendree's lone win in doubles came at the No. 3 spot as sophomore
Subash Paramasivan (Chennai, India/Saraswathi Kendra) and senior
Vishnu Prasad (Chennai, India/National Institute of Open Schooling) improved to 3-5 on the season with a 6-4 win over Yahor Bahdanovich and Parker Collignon.
After doubles was concluded, the teams turned their focus to singles as the Bearcats swept all singles matches to pick up the victory. It marked the fourth time this season McKendree had swept all six singles matches.
Kamdem, who is ranked 74th in singles, improved to 14-4 on the season with his 6-3, 6-3 win over Bahdanovich.
Frederico, who is ranked 57th in singles, gave the Bearcats a 2-1 lead in the match following his 6-4, 6-0 win at the No. 1 spot over Sakamaki. Frederico won his eighth straight match and improved to 16-4 on the season.
Paramasivan made 3-1 in favor of the Bearcats as he needed three sets to defeat Blandford at the No. 3 spot. Paramasivan fell 6-1 in the first set, before earning a 6-2 win in the second set and 6-4 in the third set.
Reddy would pick up a 6-2, 6-3 win at the No. 4 singles spot to seal the match win for the Bearcats.
Del Biondo would give the Bearcats a 5-0 lead in the match following his 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 6 spot over Cameron.
The sixth and final singles win came at the No. 5 spot as Prasad picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kromer. Prasad moved to 6-1 on the season.
The Bearcats will close out the regular season next weekend (April 22-23) as they play a 2 p.m. match on April 22 at Lindenwood University, before hosting Maryville on April 23 at 11 a.m. at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Ill.
