WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise men's tennis was shutout by Fairmont State University Sunday afternoon at the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex in the two teams' Mountain East Conference opener. The visiting Fighting Falcons (8-4, 1-0 MEC) swept both doubles and singles play as the Cavs (3-7, 0-1 MEC) were unable to win more than four games in any match.
 
At the top doubles position, the junior of tandem of Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) and Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) took three games off of Guilherme Pachane and Tom Liddy of Fairmont State but fell 8-3. The Fighting Falcons' Joao Lucas Alves and Mohas Higveres bested junior Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Josh McFadden (Newport News, Va.) at the second spot by a score of 8-1, while Fairmont State's Micah Hornak and Dillon Early defeated freshmen Daniel Laughlin (Bristol, Va.) and John Hamilton (Wise, Va.) 8-0 at third doubles.
 
Playing eight-game pro sets in singles due to the cold conditions, Armistead was able to grab four games off of the Fighting Falcons' Pachane at No. 3 singles but was unable to get any closer. Alves of Fairmont State got the best of Rutnytskyi at the top singles spot to earn an 8-2 win as the Fighting Falcons' Hornak topped Tunnikov 8-1 at second singles.
 
UVa-Wise was unable to win a game at either of the No. 4-6 singles positions as Higveres, Early and Liddy of Fairmont State each claimed 8-0 match victories respectively.
 
The Cavs return to match action Tuesday, March 21, when they step out of league play to face Montreat College. First serve from the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
Fairmont State University 9, UVa-Wise 0
 
Singles
1. Joao Lucas Alves (FSU) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 8-2
2. Micah Hornak (FSU) def. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 8-1
3. Guilherme Pachane (FSU) def. Chris Armistead (WISE) 8-4
4. Mohas Higveres (FSU) def. Josh McFadden (WISE) 8-0
5. Dillon Early (FSU) def. Daniel Laughlin (WISE) 8-0
6. Tom Liddy (FSU) def. John Hamilton (WISE) 8-0
 
Doubles
1. Guilherme Pachane/Tom Liddy (FSU) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi/Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 8-3
2. Joao Lucas Alves/Mohas Higveres (FSU) def. Christopher Armistead/Josh McFadden (WISE) 8-1
3. Micah Hornak/Dillon Early (FSU) def. Daniel Laughlin/John Hamilton (WISE) 8-0