Ferrum, Va. – King University tennis delivered a strong performance on the road, as the Tornado swept a Conference Carolinas matchup at Ferrum College. The women dominated in a 6-1 victory, while the men battled to a narrow 4-3 win.
Women:
The King women set the tone early, sweeping all three doubles matches to take the opening point. The duos of
Deniz Aytun and
Trinity Moore,
Ruth Robison and
Rani Malhoe, and
Shellby Tranchita and
Sarah Hale all secured convincing wins to give the Tornado a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
In singles, King continued its dominance, claiming five of the six matches.
Deniz Aytun earned a solid 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1, while
Shellby Tranchita rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory in the No. 3 spot.
Trinity Moore and
Ruth Robison were both flawless, each earning 6-0, 6-0 sweeps at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Hale picked up a win by default at No. 6 to round out the scoring for the Tornado.
Singles competition
- Deniz Aytun (King) vs Bianca Solorzano (Ferrum) King: 2-0 (6-3, 6-3)
- Rani Malhoe (King) vs Stephanie Porras (Ferrum) Ferrum: 2-0 (6-4, 6-1)
- Shellby Tranchita (King) vs Olivia Eisenman (Ferrum) King: 2-0 (6-0, 6-1)
- Trinity Moore (King) vs Hannah Huffman (Ferrum) King: 2-0 (6-0, 6-0)
- Ruth Robison (King) vs Chloe Smith (Ferrum) King: 2-0 (6-0, 6-0)
- Sarah Hale (King) vs Default (Ferrum) King
Doubles competition
- Aytun/Moore (King) vs Solorzano/Porras (Ferrum) King: 6-0
- Robison/Malhoe (King) vs Eisenman/Huffman (Ferrum) King: 6-1
- Tranchita/Hale (King) vs Default (Ferrum) King
Men:
On the men's side, the match proved to be a much tighter contest. Ferrum claimed the doubles point, winning at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, while King's tandem of Kellner and
Ben Jones secured the lone doubles victory with a 6-3 decision at No. 3.
Trailing 1-0, the Tornado responded in singles play with four crucial victories to clinch the match.
Danny Neleman led the charge at the top spot, earning a straight-set win highlighted by a tight first-set tiebreak before cruising 6-0 in the second.
Bar Meshel dropped his match at No. 2, while
Lucas Machado and
Beckham Sylvester each rallied after dropping their opening sets to secure key wins at No. 3 and No. 4.
Ben Jones delivered one of the most dominant performances of the day at No. 6 singles, posting a double-bagel 6-0, 6-0 victory. Ferrum picked up its remaining point at No. 5 singles, but it wasn't enough as King secured the 4-3 team win.
Singles competition
- Danny Neleman (King) vs Emmanuel Ferreira (Ferrum) King: 2-0 (7-6, 6-0)
- Bar Meshel (King) vs Sebastian Ondas (Ferrum) Ferrum: 2-1 (6-2, 6-7, 6-2)
- Lucas Machado (King) vs Tobi Teller (Ferrum) King: 2-1 (1-6, 6-4, 6-2)
- Beckham Sylvester (King) vs Emilio Munguia (Ferrum) King: 2-1 (2-6, 6-3, 7-6)
- Rohan Chalisgaonkar (King) vs Brian Karenzi (Ferrum) Ferrum: 2-1 (4-6, 6-3, 7-5)
- Ben Jones (King) vs Gabriel Alvarez (Ferrum) King: 2-0 (6-0, 6-0)
Doubles competition
- Neleman/Machado (King) vs Ferreira/Teller (Ferrum) Ferrum: 6-2
- Chalisgaonkar/Meshel (King) vs Karenzi/Ondas (Ferrum) Ferrum: 6-2
- Kellner/Jones (King) vs Munguia/Martinez (Ferrum) King: 6-3
Up Next: King closes out the regular season at home on Saturday, April 18, at 1:00 p.m. against Shorter in a Conference Carolinas matchup. The match will also serve as Senior Day, as the Tornado honor their graduating student-athletes.
