CONWAY, Ark. – A pair of very close doubles victories lifted the Harding men's tennis team to a 6-3 victory over Hendrix on Tuesday at the Mabee Indoor Tennis Center.
The match, which lasted more than four hours, was the first of the spring season for the Bisons and moved the team to 4-0. Hendrix fell to 1-3.
The victory was especially impressive due to the lack of practice the Harding tennis teams have had due to the poor weather.
“We've only been able to practice once in the last eight days because of the weather,” said Harding head coach David Elliott. “We were able to get out on the courts for about 30 minutes on Monday, but even then, we really could not do much.”
Harding's No. 2 doubles team of Ivan Michelli and Helio Hashimoto scored the Bisons' first point with an 8-3 victory and remained perfect at 5-0 as a doubles team this season.
Both the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams trailed in their matches but prevailed 9-8 in tiebreakers. The No. 1 team of Henrique Ruiz and Alex Ford improved to 3-1 in dual matches with their victory. Adam Edwards and Germans Uglovs' victory at No. 3 was their first as a doubles team.
With a 3-0 lead going into singles play, Harding needed just two singles victories to clinch the match. Edwards at No. 4 and Hashimoto at No. 5 provided those points. Edwards moved to 4-0 in dual matches with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Harding suffered losses at the top three singles positions, but Uglovs' 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 6 singles gave the Bisons' their sixth point of the match.
Harding is scheduled to return to the Mabee Indoor Tennis Center on Friday at 4 p.m. to meet John Brown University in a neutral site match.
Complete Results
Harding (4-0) at Hendrix (1-3)
SINGLES
1 – Michael Gardner (HEN) def. Henrique Ruiz (HU) – 6-4, 6-3
2 – Rich Litterest (HEN) def. Alex Ford (HU) – 6-2, 6-3
3 – Tim Dinehart (HEN) def. Ivan Michelli (HU) – 7-5, 6-4
4 – Adam Edwards (HU) def. Kent Dunson (HEN) – 6-2, 6-1
5 – Helio Hashimoto (HU) def. Ben Thomas (HEN) – 6-0, 6-1
6 – Germans Uglovs (HU) def. Udai Garimella (HEN) – 6-3, 6-3
DOUBLES
1 – Ruiz/Ford (HU) def. Gardner/Litterest (HEN) – 9-8 (4)
2 – Michelli/Hashimoto (HU) def. Dunson/Garimella (HEN) – 8-3
3 – Edwards/Uglovs (HU) def. Thomas/Dinehart (HEN) – 9-8 (4)
