WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise men's tennis snapped a seven-match losing streak and topped Concord University 5-4 in a Mountain East Conference contest Tuesday evening at the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex. The Cavaliers (4-10, 1-2 MEC) picked up their first league victory of the season after winning four out of the six singles matches. Trailing 2-1 after doubles play, UVa-Wise won the top four singles positions against the visiting Mountain Lions (0-5, 0-2 MEC) to clinch the victory.
 
The Cavs' lone doubles win of the evening came at the second spot where the duo of junior Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Josh McFadden (Newport News, Va.) earned an 8-5 win over Alfonso Jeminez and Alec Lusk of Concord. At No. 3 doubles freshmen Daniel Laughlin (Bristol, Va.) and John Hamilton (Wise, Va.) were defeated 8-5 as the Mountain Lions' William Dick and Daniel Rose came back from a 5-2 deficit. The junior tandem of Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) and Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) were handed a 8-3 loss at the top doubles spot against Concord's Javier Lietor and Stan Cohn.
 
UVa-Wise evened up the match at 2-2 when McFadden earned the Cavs' first singles win with a 6-0, 6-3 rout of the Mountain Lions' Lusk at the fourth position. Rutnytskyi also came up with a straight-set win as he defeated Jeminez of Concord, 6-3, 6-3, at the top singles spot.
 
The Cavs would have much closer matches at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. First, Armistead was victorious at the third position when he upended the Mountain Lions' Cohn by a score of 6-4, 4-6 and 10-2 in the third-set super tiebreak. Needing just one more singles win to clinch the match, UVa-Wise turned its attention to Tunnikov at No. 2 singles. The junior persevered in two hard-fought sets versus Concord's Lietor, claiming the first set 8-6 in a tiebreaker before taking the second 7-5 in a tiebreaker as well.
 
William Dick of Concord bested Hamilton 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles before Laughlin was outlasted at the fifth spot in the final match of the evening. After dropping the opening set 6-1, Laughlin grabbed a 7-5 second-set victory but was defeated 10-1 in the third-set super tiebreak by the Mountain Lions' Adam Tolliver.
 
The Cavs host Shepherd University Saturday, April 1, for their home finale. First serve from the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex is slated for 11 a.m.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
UVa-Wise 5, Concord University 4
 
Singles
1. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) def. Alfonso Jeminez (CU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) def. Javier Lietor (CU) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5)
3. Christopher Armistead (WISE) def. Stan Cohn (CU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2)
4. Josh McFadden (WISE) def. Alec Lusk (CU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Adam Tolliver (CU) def. Daniel Laughlin (WISE) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-1)
6. William Dick (CU) def. John Hamilton (WISE) 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Javier Lietor/Stan Cohn (CU) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi/Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) 8-3
2. Christopher Armistead/Josh McFadden (WISE) def. Alfonso Jeminez/Alec Lusk (CU) 8-5
3. William Dick/Daniel Rose (CU) def. Daniel Laughlin/John Hamilton (WISE) 8-5