WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise men's tennis was narrowly defeated 5-4 by West Virginia State Sunday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference road match in Institute, West Virginia. Limited to five players, the visiting Cavaliers (4-12, 1-4 MEC) fell behind 2-1 after doubles action and then split the six singles matches.
 
Claiming their first win of the season, the host Yellow Jackets (1-10, 1-2 MEC) got the default victory at No. 3 doubles as the two teams split first and second doubles. The junior tandem of Andrii Rutnytskyi (Odessa, Ukraine) and Viktor Tunnikov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) earned a convincing 8-1 No. 1 doubles win against West Virginia State's Caleb Starkey and Dylan Jayasuriya. However, junior Christopher Armistead (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Josh McFadden (Newport News, Va.) were topped 8-4 by the Yellow Jackets' Kaleb Ball and Ethan Cross at No. 2 doubles.
 
West Virginia State took a 3-1 lead after Baylee Vankirk picked up the default win at the sixth singles position. UVa-Wise's deficit was increased to 4-1 in when the Yellow Jackets' Ball defeated Rutnytskyi 6-1, 6-0 at the top singles spot.
 
The Cavs won No. 2 through No. 4 singles in straight sets led by Armistead's dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory at the third spot over Jayasuriya of West Virginia State. McFadden took down the Yellow Jackets' Cross by a score of 6-4, 6-0 at fourth singles, while Tunnikov came away with a 6-2, 7-5 win against West Virginia State's Starkey at No. 2 singles.
 
The Yellow Jackets clinched the team victory with a No. 5 singles win as West Virginia State's Noah Fulks upended freshman Daniel Laughlin (Bristol, Va.), 6-3, 6-2.
 
The Cavs will have five days off from competition before returning to match action Saturday, April 8, when UVa-Wise travels to Cedarville, Ohio, to face Cedarville University in a 2 p.m. contest.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
West Virginia State 5, UVa-Wise 4
 
Singles
1. Kaleb Ball (WVSU) def. Andrii Rutnytskyi (WISE) 6-1, 6-0
2. Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) def. Caleb Starkey (WVSU) 6-2, 7-5
3. Christopher Armistead (WISE) def. Dylan Jayasuriya (WVSU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Josh McFadden (WISE) def. Ethan Cross (WVSU) 6-4, 6-0
5. Noah Fulks (WVSU) def. Daniel Laughlin (WISE) 6-3, 6-2
6. Baylee Vankirk (WVSU) def. No player (WISE), by default
 
Doubles
1. Andrii Rutnytskyi/Viktor Tunnikov (WISE) def. Caleb Starkey/Dylan Jayasuriya (WVSU) 8-1
2. Kaleb Ball/Ethan Cross (WVSU) def. Christopher Armistead/Josh McFadden (WISE) 8-4
3. Noah Fulks/Sean Matics (WVSU) def. No player/No player (WISE), by default