CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise men's tennis team pulled off a comeback as they defeated fifth-seeded Fairmont State 5-4 in the first round of the 2016 Mountain East Conference Men's Tennis Tournament in Charleston, West Virginia. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers (11-8, 4-3 MEC) clinched the match over the Fighting Falcons (8-15, 3-4 MEC) when sophomore Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) clinched the fifth and deciding point at No. 5 singles in a three-set match.
 
Playing indoors due to morning rain at the Schoenbaum Tennis Courts, the Cavs trailed Fairmont State 2-1 after doubles play despite a very close and hard-fought No. 2 doubles match. The duo of senior Vlayslav Akimenko (Donetsk, Ukraine) and sophomore Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) claimed an 8-4 win at the top spot against the Fighting Falcons' Micha Hornak and Aaron Leo for the Cavs' lone doubles win.
 
Alec Moran and Ryan Leo of Fairmont State got the Fighting Falcons first doubles win of the day with an 8-2 victory over sophomore Vikor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and Armistead at the third position. Going to a tiebreak at second doubles, the tandem of senior Oleg Kopychenko (Simferopol, Ukraine) and sophomore Noah Aldridge (Pennington Gap, Va.) were not able to top Fairmont State's Zach Hatfield and Noah Weber, falling 7-5 in the breaker.
 
The Cavs took three of the top four singles matches to take a 4-3 lead in the match with No. 5 and No. 6 singles still to finish. Rutnytskyi won by the most convincing score at second singles when he took down the Fighting Falcons' Aaron Leo, 6-1, 6-0. Akimenko claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the top singles flight over Hornak of Fairmont State. At No. 3 singles it was Kopychenko who was a 6-3, 6-3 winner against Fairmont State's Matheus Rodrigues. Moran got the Fighting Falcons' third point of the match when he earned a 6-1, 6-2 match win over Tunnikov at fourth singles.
 
After Ryan Leo of Fairmont State defeated freshman Blake Pientka (Wise, Va.) 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6 singles, the match became knotted up at 4-4 with fifth singles in progress to decide the who advanced to the semifinals. Armistead lost the first set against the Fighting Falcons' Hatfield (6-2) before storming back to claim the match victory for UVa-Wise, winning the second set 6-3 and the third and final set, 6-2.
 
The Cavs will face top-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday at 11 a.m. in the semifinals of the championship tournament. The Bobcats, West Liberty and University of Charleston each claimed a share of the regular season championship with identical 6-1 records but after tiebreaking procedures, West Virginia Wesleyan was named the No. 1 seed in the MEC tournament. The top two seeds received a first round bye.
 
UVa-Wise was defeated 8-1 by the Bobcats back on March 5 at home. The Cavs lone win in the match was at No. 1 doubles when Akimenko and Rutnytskyi defeated West Virginia Wesleyan's Nathan Sabate and Ferran Berga, the ninth-ranked doubles duo in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic Region.
 
Please visit mountaineast.org for complete tournament information or click on the "Tournament Central" link at the top of the page.
 
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Full Match Results
UVa-Wise 5, Fairmont State 4
 
Singles
1. Vladyslav Akimenko (WISE) def. Micah Hornak (FS) 6-4, 6-4
2. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) def. Aaron Leo (FS) 6-1, 6-0
3. Oleg Kopychenko (WISE) def. Matheus Rodrigues (FS) 6-3, 6-3
4. Alec Moran (FS) def. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 6-1, 6-2
5. C. Armistead (WISE) def. Zach Hatfield (FS) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Ryan Leo (FS) def. Blake Pientka (WISE) 6-1, 6-3
 
Doubles
1. Vladyslav Akimenko/Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) def. Micah Hornak/Aaron Leo (FS) 8-4
2. Zach Hatfield/Noah Weber (FS) def. Oleg Kopychenko/Noah Aldridge (WISE) 9-8
3. Alec Moran/Ryan Leo (FS) def. Viktor Tunnikov/C. Armistead (WISE) 8-2