WISE, Va. – Ranked second in the Atlantic Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), West Liberty University got the best of UVa-Wise men's tennis Sunday afternoon at the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex. The visiting Hilltoppers (13-5, 6-1 MEC) swept all doubles and singles matches to earn a 9-0 victory over the host Cavaliers (8-8, 2-3 MEC).
 
Senior Vladyslav Akimenko (Donetsk, Ukraine) and sophomore Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) won the most games of any Cav duo but still lost an 8-3 doubles match to West Liberty's Baptiste Perrin and Santiago Gutierrez at the top spot. Andrew Ponder and Matt Tully of West Liberty proved to be too much for senior Oleg Kopychenko (Simferopol, Ukraine) and sophomore Noah Aldridge (Pennington Gap, Va.) at No. 2 doubles as they claimed an 8-1 win. The sophomore tandem of Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) were outdone 8-0 at third doubles by the Hilltopper's Luke Flanagan and Pablo Cimorra.
 
Unfortunately for the Cavs, singles play yielded similar results despite closer matches at the top two positions. Akimenko won the most games of any Cav in singles play as he fell 6-2, 6-3 at the top spot to West Liberty's Perrin, who is the top-ranked singles player in the ITA Atlantic Region. Rutnytskyi earned four games in a 6-3, 6-1 loss at No. 2 singles against the 13th-ranked singles player in the ITA Atlantic Region, the Hilltopper's Gutierrez.
 
Both Kopychenko and Armistead came out on the losing end of 6-1, 6-2 matches as Oleg was defeated by Ponder of West Liberty at the third spot and Chris fell to the Hilltopper's Cimorra at No. 5 singles. Ponder is also ranked in the ITA Atlantic Region at No. 17 for singles.
 
West Liberty's Tully handed Tunnikov a 6-0, 6-2 loss at the fourth spot, while Flanagan topped freshman Blake Pientka (Wise, Va.) 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.
 
The Cavs will host senior day Monday when UVa-Wise faces West Virginia State, match time is scheduled for 3 p.m. Seniors Akimenko and Kopychenko will be honored prior to the match.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
West Liberty University 9, UVa-Wise 0
 
Full Match Results
West Liberty University 9, UVa-Wise 0
 
Singles
1. Baptiste Perrin (WLU) def. Vladyslav Akimenko (WISE) 6-2, 6-3
2. Santiago Gutierrez (WLU) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 6-3, 6-1
3. Andrew Ponder (WLU) def. Oleg Kopychenko (WISE) 6-1, 6-2
4. Matt Tully (WLU) def. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 6-0, 6-2
5. Pablo Cimorra (WLU) def. C. Armistead (WISE) 6-1, 6-2
6. Luke Flanagan (WLU) def. Blake Pientka (WISE) 6-1, 6-0
 
Doubles
1. Baptiste Perrin/Santiago Gutierrez (WLU) def. Vladyslav Akimenko/Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 8-3
2. Andrew Ponder/Matt Tully (WLU) def. Oleg Kopychenko/Noah Aldridge (WISE) 8-1
3. Luke Flanagan/Pablo Cimorra (WLU) def. Viktor Tunnikov/C. Armistead (WISE) 8-0