WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise men's tennis team was defeated 6-3 Wednesday evening in a tightly contested non-conference match at the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex. The Cavaliers (3-8) were edged in two three-set singles matches after falling behind 2-1 in doubles play. The visiting Cavaliers of Montreat (5-8) were able to claim four of the six singles matches to clinch the team victory.
 
In doubles action, the junior tandem of Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) and Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) earned UVa-Wise's lone doubles win with an 8-3 rout of Montreat's Leopoldo Lucero and Jackson Plyler. At second doubles junior Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Josh McFadden (Newport News, Va.) were handed a 8-2 loss by the visiting Cavaliers' Lorward Choi and David Garcia. Ben Cree and Grayson Chumley of Montreat picked up a 8-1 win over the Cavs' freshmen duo of Daniel Laughlin (Bristol, Va.) and John Hamilton (Wise, Va.).
 
Three of the top four singles matches went to three sets as UVa-Wise was able to pull out wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. Armistead gave UVa-Wise its first singles victory at No. 3 singles when he came back from a 5-2 first set deficit to earn a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 win against Montreat's Plyler. At the top singles position, Rutnytskyi battled his opponent for over two hours before coming away with a 7-6, (7-5), 5-7, 10-5 win over the visiting Cavaliers' Lucero.
 
The Cavaliers of Montreat clinched the team win when Tunnikov dropped a hard-fought three-set match at the second spot. Tunnikov took the opening set 6-3 against Choi of Montreat before falling 6-0 in the second and then being edged 10-8 in the third-set super tiebreaker. No match was closer than McFadden's match at No. 4 singles. After nearly two hours of play, Montreat's Garcia was finally able to capture a third-set super tiebreaker at 13-11. McFadden had won the opening set 6-2 but fell 7-5 in the second set to force the deciding third.
 
At No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, both Laughlin and Hamilton were topped by scores of 6-0, 6-0 against Cree and Chumley of Montreat.
 
The Cavs wrap up their five-match homestand Friday, March 24, when they step back into Mountain East Conference play and host the University of Charleston for a 4 p.m. first serve.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
Montreat College 6, UVa-Wise 3
 
Singles
1. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) def. Leopoldo Lucero (MONTREAT) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)
2. Lorward Choi (MONTREAT) def. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Christopher Armistead (WISE) def. Jackson Plyler (MONTREAT) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
4. David Garcia (MONTREAT) def. Josh McFadden (WISE) 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (13-11)
5. Ben Cree (MONTREAT) def. Daniel Laughlin (WISE) 6-0, 6-0
6. Grayson Chumley (MONTREAT) def. John Hamilton (WISE) 6-0, 6-0
 
Doubles
1. Andrii Rutnytskyi/Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) def. Leopoldo Lucero/Jackson Plyler (MONTREAT) 8-3
2. Lorward Choi/David Garcia (MONTREAT) def. Christopher Armistead/Josh McFadden (WISE) 8-2
3. Ben Cree/Grayson Chumley (MONTREAT) def. Daniel Laughlin/John Hamilton (WISE) 8-1