DANVILLE, Va. – No. 42 Averett University men's tennis advanced to its third straight ODAC semifinal with a 4-0 win over Guilford College on Wednesday afternoon at the Averett Tennis Courts.
Rafael Jodas and
Sam Egui, one of the strongest duos in the ODAC this season, started doubles with their 12th win as a team, defeating Turner Johnson and Henry Austin 6-2, as Averett (14-4) got halfway to the match's first point. While No. 1 singles was fully in grasp of visiting Guilford (6-11), but didn't seem to matter by the end.
Lucas Fiandra and
Florian Bert took care of the Quakers' Rylan Tuten and Evan Wong 6-4 to earn point number one.
Heading into singles, Fiandra got the nod at the sixth spot, and breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Guilford's Johnson to double Averett's lead.
Jaeden Mukkaladyil followed, winning his team-leading 17th win in singles to take down Brandon Hermes, 6-0, 6-2.
Just a point away, the Cougars had options as to where the match could be clinched, leading at the third, fourth, and fifth singles flights. It ended up finishing at the third spot, with Bert finalizing the team win, 6-1, 6-2 versus Henry Austin.
In ODAC quarterfinals all-time since joining in 2022, the men's tennis team is 3-0 in all matches.
Averett takes its talents to the conference tournament semifinals, where a ranked opponent will await. No. 61 Hampden-Sydney College and No. 68 Randolph College face off in the opposite semifinal, with the winner to face the Cougars at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. The match is to be played on the campus of Washington and Lee University.
