ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd men's tennis team celebrated senior Christian Kearns ahead of a 6-1 victory over West Chester (Penn.) at the Fred Bullard Courts on Sunday afternoon.
The Tritons (5-5) defeated the Golden Rams (0-3) after taking the doubles point and the top five singles matches.
The Tritons swept the doubles point to begin the day. Mario Kirkov and Marshall Hulett cruised to a 6-0 shutout victory in the No. 2 position. Batu Ataseven and Christian Kearns had a quick run in the top spot, defeating the Rams' top pairing of Brady Burns and Felix Webber 6-1. With the doubles point clinched, Eric Asakura and Phil Grueninger battled for a 7-6 (7-2) victory to sweep doubles play.
The Tritons' top singles, Ataseven, breezed by the Golden Rams' top singles Lucas Henke, for a 6-0 straight sets, shutout victory.
Hulett was stingy in the No. 5 position, only dropping two sets, as he took his match 6-1 in straight sets.
Eckerd is back on the road Tuesday for a neutral site matchup against Bentley (Mass.) in Lakeland, Fla. at 3:00 PM.
Singles competition
1. Batu Ataseven (ECM) def. Lucas Henke (WCU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Mario Kirkov (ECM) def. Andres Urrutia (WCU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Christian Kearns (ECM) def. Brady Burns (WCU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Eric Asakura (ECM) def. Felix Webber (WCU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Marshall Hulett (ECM) def. Andrew Poprik (WCU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Aidan Cashin (WCU) def. Phil Grueninger (ECM) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Batu Ataseven/Christian Kearns (ECM) def. Brady Burns/Felix Webber (WCU) 6-1
2. Mario Kirkov/Marshall Hulett (ECM) def. Lucas Henke/Andrew Poprik (WCU) 6-0
3. Eric Asakura/Phil Grueninger (ECM) def. Cesar DeJesusMorales/Andres Urrutia (WCU) 7-6 (7-2)
