March 8, 2010
Results
SUMTER, S.C. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Men's Tennis squad opened their season at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Round-Up, an unofficial gathering of the northern and southern division teams in the conference. The men's squad played four matches against Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman, Winston-Salem State and South Carolina State. Unfortunately, the result was the same in each, as UMES starts the season at 0-4.
The most competitive match of the event was the match with WSSU where UMES fell 5-2. The Rams had been struggling themselves and snapped an 11-match losing streak with the win.
WSSU started the match by earning the doubles point as the Rams swept all three doubles matches. Brian Coxton/Ian Hunter downed Dorian Thomas/Emmash Sudusinghe 8-3 at first doubles; Troy Moore/Mason King defeated Jon Toms/Marquet Robinson 8-5 at second doubles and Joab Odera/Calvin Brooks defeated Rashad James/Osvaldo Rivera 8-1 at third doubles.
WSSU continued to handle all of UMES' challenges as the Rams won the first four singles matches and secured the victory. Brian Coxton earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Rashad James at first singles; Ian Hunter downed Emmash Sudusinghe 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 at second singles; Troy Moore defeated Dorian Thomas 6-3, 7-5 at third singles and Joab Odera earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over MarQuet Robinson at fourth singles.
UMES was able to gain wins in the five and six singles as Osvaldo Rivera topped Mason King 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 and Jon Toms defeated Calvin Brooks 4-6, 6-4, 10-7. Both were hard fought matches but gave both Hawks their first individual wins of the season.
The other three matches all saw the Hawks fall 7-0. Against FAMU the Hawks were completely shut out with the exception of Sudusinghe who fell 6-1, 6-1 to Marc Atkinson. The match was somewhat closer with the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman. Sudusinghe was again strong, taking a 6-1, 6-3 defeat while Rivera also played well in a 6-0, 6-4 defeat.
UMES had their hands full with the defending conference champion Bulldogs. James, Sudusinghe and Warren all managed a point in their matches, taking 6-0, 6-1 losses.
The Hawks now will begin the MEAC North section of their schedule over the next few weeks.
