WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise men's tennis team fell 9-0 Saturday afternoon at Lenoir-Rhyne University in a non-conference match in Hickory, North Carolina. The host Bears (9-7) out of the South Atlantic Conference swept the visiting Cavaliers (3-10) in both doubles and singles play.
 
A pair of 8-0 matches at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles went the way of the home team. Lenoir-Rhyne's Hamed Gandouz and Paul Lenz topped junior Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Josh McFadden (Newport News, Va.) at the second spot, while the Bears' Alex Crespo Sanchez and Tales Miranda bested the freshmen duo of Daniel Laughlin (Bristol, Va.) and John Hamilton (Wise, Va.) at the third position. The junior tandem of Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) and Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) were able to claim two games off of Tomas Hons and Shane O'Dea of Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 1 doubles but fell 8-2.
 
Singles play proved to be just as difficult for UVa-Wise. Rutnytskyi played the closest match of any Cav but came out on the losing end of a close, 7-5, 6-3 decision at the top singles spot against the Bears' Hons. McFadden won four games off of Lenoir-Rhyne's Miranda but lost 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
 
Tunnikov was defeated 6-1, 6-0 at second singles by the Bears' Alex Ayguavives as Hamilton was bested 6-0, 6-1 at the sixth position by Camden Tucker of Lenoir-Rhyne. Armistead was forced to retire due to injury after a 6-1 first set loss and trailing 1-0 in the second to the Bears' O'Dea. Lenior-Rhyne's William Hewett picked up a 6-0, 6-0 match victory at No. 5 singles.  
 
The Cavs now return to the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex for a pair of Mountain East Conference matches beginning with Concord University Tuesday, March 28. First serve is slated for 3 p.m.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
Lenoir-Rhyne 9, UVa-Wise 0
 
Singles
1. Tomas Hons (LR) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 7-5, 6-3
2. Alex Ayguavives (LR) def. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 6-1, 6-0
3. Shane O'Dea (LR) def. Christopher Armistead (WISE) 6-1, 1-0, retired
4. Tales Miranda (LR) def. Josh McFadden (WISE) 6-4, 6-1
5. William Hewett (LR) def. Daniel Laughlin (WISE) 6-0, 6-0
6. Camden Tucker (LR) def. John Hamilton (WISE) 6-0, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Tomas Hons/Shane O'Dea (LR) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi/Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 8-2
2. Hamed Gandouz/Paul Lenz (LR) def. Christopher Armistead/Josh McFadden (WISE) 8-0
3. Alex Crespo Sanchez/Tales Miranda (LR) def. Daniel Laughlin/John Hamilton (WISE) 8-0