Hendrix Edges Men's Tennis at Top Doubles Spot
CONWAY, Ark. -- Tied at four apiece and just one flight to decide the match, Hendrix (Ark.) slid past the John Brown men's tennis team, 5-4, this afternoon (March 17) at the Hatcher Tennis Center.
The Warriors (5-5) and Golden Eagles (1-5) were split 3-3 after singles play.
Hendrix's Karthik Garimella, playing in the number one spot for the first time this year, defeated senior Colton Cheek 6-1, 6-0. Ian McVinney topped freshman Fernando Hurley, 6-2, 6-1, at the second spot and Ilya Pound took a 6-4, 6-2, win over freshman Matthew Minner 6-4, 6-2 at the bottom flight. JBU responded with a trio of wins of its own when sophomore Kumhal Fulghem grabbed a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kiran Chakka at the third flight. Freshman Nathan Kuykendall, who moved to 2-4 in singles play this year, took an easy 6-1, 6-3, win over Luke Lefler at the four spot before senior Luke Reimer posted a 7-5, 6-1, win over Daniel Sweeney to even the match at three apiece.
JBU took the second doubles match with Hurley and Kuykendall topping McVinney and Lefler, 8-4. Hendrix evened it up with Pound and Sweeney defeating Reimer and Minner, 8-5, in the third spot after trailing 5-3.
Coming down to the top doubles match up, Garimella and Chakka trailed Cheek and Fulghem 5-4 before coming back to win, 8-5.
John Brown returns to action on Thursday (March 31) when it plays its first home match of the season, against Harding (Ark.) at 2 p.m.
