DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's tennis team came out on the winning end of a cross-town battle against Bethune Cookman on Wednesday, topping the Wildcats 8-1 at the Crotty Tennis Complex. The Eagles are now 6-4 on the year, while the Wildcats fall to 1-14.
The Eagles gained an early advantage as injuries limited the Wildcats to just four available players, resulting in default wins for the Blue and Gold at No. 3 doubles and the fifth and sixth singles spots.
At the top doubles spot, the Eagles' seventh -ranked pair of
Carlos Becke and
Deepak Vishavkarma rolled to an 8-2 win over Greg Almeida and Jose Plazas. Next to them on court two,
Juan Ortiz Couder and
Andres Donayre assured the Eagles of their sixth victory of the season with an 8-2 defeat of David Ocampa and Alvaro Barrera.
Ortiz Couder, who is ranked 18
th in the ITA/NCAA II singles poll, was the first to finish his singles match, making quick work of Almeida, 6-0, 6-2 on court one.
Playing at No. 3 singles, Donayre downed Almeida 6-1, 6-3, and
Mickael Faucher followed with a three-set (7-5, 0-6, 10-6) victory over Barrera at the fourth spot.
The last match off the court was at No. 2 where both players battled through injury sustained during Wednesday's contest. In the end, Plazas was able to hold off Vishavkarma 7-6 (3), 7-5 for BCU's only point of the day.
The Eagles return to action at 1 p.m. on Sunday when they host Palm Beach Atlantic at the Crotty Tennis Complex.
