Blue Raiders Sweep Competition and Earn Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Championship

Friday, February 25

Montgomery, Ala.

11:30 a.m.

Middle Tennessee

Tulane

2/26/2022 11:46:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score 3

By: Alex Morgan, MT Athletic Communications

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Middle Tennessee men's tennis (14-3, 1-0) goes 3-0 on the weekend against ranked opponents and capture the 74th Annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Championship at the Lagoon Park Tennis Complex.

With the wins, MT moves to 14-3 on the season, notched their sixth power 5 win, and sits at 4-1 against ranked opponents.

A few days after being named the No. 30 team in the nation by the ITA, the Blue Raiders defeat No. 48 Tulane 4-1, No. 19 Arizona 4-0, and No. 29 Princeton 4-1 to stitch their names in Blue Gray tournament history. "The guys were phenomenal all weekend, I'm extremely proud of this team," Head Coach Jimmy Borendame said. "The first Blue Gray Championship in school history and it feels awesome, we will enjoy the win and get back to work on Tuesday."

Graduate Student Chris Edge went 3-0 on the weekend on the singles front and earned his 100th career singles win as a Blue Raider against Princeton. On the season, he sits at 14-2 in singles and 13-1 in doubles paired with Holis.

#80 Stijn Slump was electric on the MT top court in the Blue Gray, the Havelte, Netherlands product went 2-1 in singles, including a ranked win over #102 Jonas Ziverts of Arizona. Slump is now at 3-3 (.500) against ITA ranked singles opponents this year.

#115 Francisco Rocha anchored the Blue Raiders going 2-0 in singles and clinching the doubles point over No. 19 Arizona, helping MT secure its second top 25 win on the season. Rocha moves to 11-1 in singles and in finished matches has won seven-straight.

Graduate Student Stepan Holis picked up his first ranked singles win of the season in the win over Arizona, he took down No. 71 Colton Smith in straight-sets 6-0, 6-3 and took home the Blue Gray Tournament MVP.

Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Pavel Motl also played a huge role on the teams' effort this weekend.

Next Up
Middle Tennessee will get back to Murfreesboro and prepare for a two-match true road stand. On Sunday, March 6, MT will take on No. 67 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. Four days later on March 10, the team will head to the Sunshine State and compete against South Florida in Tampa, Fla.

Singles competition (Tulane)
1. #80 SLUMP, Stijn (MTSU) def. Luc Hoeijmans (TUL) 6-1, 6-4
2. #115 ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) def. Alex Bancila (TUL) 6-1, 6-4
3. EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. Fynn Kuenkler (TUL) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
4. HOLIS, Stepan (MTSU) def. Billy Suarez (TUL) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Luka Petrovic (TUL) def. POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. MOTL, Pavel (MTSU) vs. Rafael de Alba (TUL) 1-6, 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
Singles (1,2,5,3,4)

Singles competition (Arizona)
1. #80 SLUMP, Stijn (MTSU) def. #102 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-2
2. ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) vs. Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
3. EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. #82 Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-3
4. HOLIS, Stepan (MTSU) def. #71 Colton Smith (ARIZ) 6-0, 6-3
5. POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) vs. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 6-4, 2-2, unfinished
6. MOTL, Pavel (MTSU) vs. Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 4-6, 1-4, unfinished
Singles (1,4,3)

Doubles competition (Arizona)
1. #23 POULSEN, Oskar/ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) def. Colton Smith/Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 6-4
2. Herman Hoeyeraal/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) def. SLUMP, Stijn/MOTL, Pavel (MTSU) 6-3
3. HOLIS, Stepan/EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. Nick Lagaev/Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 6-2
Doubles (3,2,1)

Singles competition (Princeton)
1. #107 Ryan Seggerman (PRIN) def. #80 SLUMP, Stijn (MTSU) 6-1, 7-5
2. #115 ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) def. Justin Barki (PRIN) 6-4, 7-5
3. EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. Karl Poling (PRIN) 6-4, 6-1
4. HOLIS, Stepan (MTSU) def. Damian Rodriguez (PRIN) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) vs. Thomas Bosancic (PRIN) 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), unfinished
6. MOTL, Pavel (MTSU) vs. Will Peters (PRIN) 6-4, 2-6, 1-5, unfinished
Singles (3,1,2,4)

Doubles competition (Princeton)
1. #35 Ryan Seggerman/Justin Barki (PRIN) def. #23 POULSEN, Oskar/ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) 6-2
2. SLUMP, Stijn/MOTL, Pavel (MTSU) def. Karl Poling/Damian Rodriguez (PRIN) 7-5
3. EDGE, Chris/HOLIS, Stepan (MTSU) def. Thomas Bosancic/Filippos Astreinidis (PRIN) 6-3
Doubles (1,3,2)

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