DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 24th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's tennis team earned its first shutout of 2016 on Friday, downing No. 40 Florida Tech 9-0 in the Eagles' first road match of the season. Now 4-1 on the year, the Eagles will have a 12-day layoff before their next match, which will be against fourth-ranked West Florida at 10 a.m. on March 16.
 
The top-flight Eagle tandem of Deni Zmak and Juan Ortiz Couder got the scoring started for the Blue and Gold with their 8-4 defeat of JJ Clark and Ricardo Corona. Mickael Faucher and Luke de Caires followed with their 8-6 win over Wade Ball and Majed Alshaikh on court three, and Fabian Zierleyn and Carlos Becke completed the doubles sweep, topping Aria Canadell and Tijmon Louisy by the same margin.
 
De Caires wasted little time in recording the first singles point for the Blue and Gold as he dispatched Foresight Okungbowa 6-0, 6-1 at the sixth spot. Zmak assured the Eagles of the win when he scored the clincher with his 6-3, 6-0 win over Canadell at the top position.
 
Three of the remaining four matches were straight-set victories for the Eagles as Ortiz Couder topped Gerard Carpinell 6-1, 6-4, Becke held off Alshaikh 6-4, 6-4, and Rodolfo Arreygue bested Clark 6-1, 6-4.
 
The final match off the court was a three-set battle between Zierleyn and Corona on court two. Zierleyn lost the first set but rebounded to easily take the second 6-1. The final set required a tiebreak to determine the outcome, which Zierleyn won 7-6 (8-5) to secure the shutout.