SALEM, Va.- The Randolph men's tennis team traveled to Roanoke College on Saturday afternoon for a key Old Dominion Athletic Conference match. The WildCats came out victorious as they won 5-4 over the Marrons.
The win snaps an eight-match winless streak for Randolph as its overall record improves to 6-11 and 2-5 in the ODAC. RC drops to 7-10 and 3-5 in the conference. The WildCats victory is also just the third ever against Roanoke and the first since 2017.
In the doubles portion, Nicolas Alvarado (Santiago, Chile/Colego Olimpo) and Alex Kulvivat (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) easily handled the duo of Hardt Lesko and Carter Hylton 8-0 at #1 doubles. Colby Cook (Smithfield, Va./Smithfield) and Bhuvan Ambekallu (Karnataka, India/Bethany High) were edged out at #2 doubles by Zach Kriebel and Thomas Hodges 8-6. Noah Carney (Charleston, W.V./Homeschool) and Jose Merhej (Fairfax, Va./Oakton) fell to Dalton Capobianco and Hunter Adams 8-3 at #3 doubles.
Alvarado won his first singles match over Kreibel 6-1, 6-2. Kulvivat was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Lesko at #2. Ambekallu needed three sets against Capobianco and won 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Cook also went three sets against Hodges winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Merhej fell to Hytlon 6-2, 6-4 and Carney lost 6-0, 6-0 to Michael Morrell.
The WildCats conclude the regular season at home on Wednesday as they host Bridgewater. Match start time is 3:00 p.m.
