CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise men's tennis team suffered a 9-0 setback Saturday on the road at Mountain East Conference opponent University of Charleston. Playing indoors at the Charleston Tennis Club because of wet weather outside, the visiting Cavaliers (4-7, 0-2 MEC) were not able to get a set off of the host Golden Eagles (6-5, 2-0 MEC).
 
Tied for seventh in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic Regional rankings, Charleston played strong throughout the lineup in both doubles and singles.
 
The Cavs' duo of senior Vladyslav Akimenko (Donetsk, Ukraine) and sophomore Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) had the closest match in doubles play at the top spot, falling by a score of 8-4 to Charleston's Alec Foote and Ivan Rajevac. Sophomore Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Blake Pientka (Wise, Va.) were only able to manage one game off of the Golden Eagles' Jacob Lorenz and Varun Shah at third doubles.
 
William Humphrey and James Gammell of Charleston took down senior Oleg Kopychenko (Simferopol, Ukraine) and sophomore Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) 8-0 at No. 2 doubles.
 
In singles play, both Kopychenko and Tunnikov were able to take four games off of their opponents in the two sets. Kopychenko lost by a score of 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles to Charleston's Rajevac, while Tunnikov fell 6-1, 6-3 at the fourth position to the Golden Eagle's Jamie Gibson.
 
Rutnytskyi and Armistead were each defeated by similar scores at the No. 2 and No. 5 positions, respectively. Gammell of Charleston earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Rutnytskyi at the second spot as the Golden Eagles' Lorenz topped Armistead 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
 
Akimenko was only able to get a total of two games against Charleston's Foote at the top singles position, coming out on the losing side of a 6-1, 6-1 final score. Sophomore Noah Aldridge (Pennington Gap, Va.) played No. 6 singles for the Cavs but was defeated 6-0, 6-1 by the Golden Eagles' Shah.
 
The Cavs will continue their six-game stretch of matches played away from home but will have a week off before returning to the courts for competition. UVa-Wise plays a neutral-site match against Hampden-Sydney College next Saturday, March 26, at 1 p.m. in Salem, Virginia, before taking on Roanoke College at 5 p.m. on the Maroons' home courts.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
University of Charleston 9, UVa-Wise 0
 
Singles
1. Alec Foote (UC) def. Vladyslav Akimenko (WISE) 6-1, 6-1
2. James Gammell (UC) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 6-2, 6-1
3. Ivan Rajevac (UC) def. Oleg Kopychenko (WISE) 6-2, 6-2
4. Jamie Gibson (UC) def. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 6-1, 6-3
5. Jacob Lorenz (UC) def. C. Armistead (WISE) 6-1, 6-2
6. Varun Shah (UC) def. Noah Aldridge (WISE) 6-0, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Alec Foote/Ivan Rajevac (UC) def. Vladyslav Akimenko/Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 8-4
2. William Humphrey/James Gammell (UC) def. Oleg Kopychenko/Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 8-0
3. Jacob Lorenz/Varun Shah (UC) def. C. Armistead/Blake Pientka (WISE) 8-1