MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 20th-ranked University of Pikeville men's tennis team tested itself over the weekend, facing No. 2 Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.), No. 25 Coastal Georgia and Martin Methodist (Tenn.) at the AUM Spring Inviational.

It was the first NAIA competition of the season for the Bears after taking on the likes of Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State. UPIKE lone win coming into the weekend was against NCAA Div. II Charleston (W. Va.).

Pikeville dropped its first match against host AUM 7-2, but got big wins at both the fifth and sixth singles spots with Francois Billet and Juan Manuel Reyes tallying wins, respectively.

It was a back-and-forth battle with Coastal Georgia before the Bears ultimately fell 5-4. In that one it was Billet winning again as the No. 4 seed, taking down Rhan Burton 6-2, 1-6, (10-7). Manuel Reyes won again as well, notching a 6-2, 6-4 decision against Malhar Mahi.

The Bears ended up splitting the singles matches 3-3, leaving Coastal Georgia with the win after it had won the Nos. 1 and 3 doubles matches.

UPIKE ended the weekend on a good note with a 6-3 win against Martin Methodist while utilizing some of its reserve players.

Billet and Manuel Reyes closed out perfect 3-0 weekends in singles play, but top-seeded Nicolas Rodenbusch got into the act as well with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Cristian Arias.

The Bears return to action at Noon ET on Tuesday against Bluefield (Va.) in their Mid-South Conference opener at Bob Amos Park.

 
No. 2 Auburn-Montgomery 7, No. 20 UPIKE 2
March 7, 2014 at Lagoon Park (Montgomery, Ala.)



Singles
1. N Pinones-Haltenhoff (AUM) def. Felix Singer (UPIKE) 6-0, 6-0
2. Zinelabidine Jouni (AUM) def. Nicolas Rodenbusch (UPIKE) 6-3, 6-1
3. Vincent Dubosclard (AUM) def. Dmitry Babenkov (UPIKE) 6-4, 6-2
4. Othmane Lalami (AUM) def. Pawel Tarasewicz (UPIKE) 7-5, 6-0
5. Francois Billet (UPIKE) def. Francisco Mendieta (AUM) 4-6, 7-6, (10-6)
6. Juan Manuel Reyes (UPIKE) def. Josh Reason (AUM) 6-3, 6-1


Doubles
1. Reason/Lalami (AUM) def. Babenkov/Rodenbusch (UPIKE) 8-5
2. Mendieta/Jouni (AUM) def. Singer/Connor Smith (UPIKE) 8-1
3. Pinones-Haltenhoff/Miguel Grifol (AUM) def. Tarasewiicz/Marcos Fondelius (UPIKE) 8-6


 
Match Notes
Pikeville 1-3; National Ranking: No. 20
Auburn-Montgomery 8-1; National Ranking: No. 2
AUM Spring Invitational 
 
 

No. 25 Coastal Georgia 5, No. 20 UPIKE 4
March 8, 2014 at Lagoon Park (Montgomery, Ala.)



Singles
1. Louis Volclair (CG) def. Sven Rodenbusch (UPIKE) 6-2, 7-5
2. Jose Zaatini (CG) def. Felix Singer (UPIKE) 6-2, 6-3
3. Erick Bermudez (CG) def. Dmitry Babenkov (UPIKE) 6-1, 6-1
4. Francois Billet (UPIKE) def. Rhan Burton (CG) 6-2, 1-6, (10-7)
5. Juan Manuel Reyes (UPIKE) def. Malhar Mahi (CG) 6-4, 6-2
6. Marcos Fondelius (UPIKE) def. Leif Shuman (CG) 6-3, 2-6, (10-8)


Doubles
1. Volclair/Burton (CG) def. Babenkov/Rodenbusch (UPIKE) 8-5
2. Tarasewicz/Fondelius (UPIKE) def. Bond/Mahi (CG) 9-7
3. Robin Lucas/Bermudez (CG) def. Singer/Connor Smith (UPIKE) 8-3


 
Match Notes
Pikeville 1-4; National Ranking: No. 20
Coastal Georgia 3-5; National Ranking: No. 25
AUM Spring Invitational
 

 
No. 20 UPIKE 6, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 3
March 9, 2014 at Lagoon Park (Montgomery, Ala.)



Singles
1. Nicolas Rodenbusch (UPIKE) def. Cristian Arias (MMC) 6-2, 6-1
2. Francois Billet (UPIKE) def. Farith Lozano (MMC) 6-3, 6-2
3. Juan Manuel Reyes (UPIKE) def. Salomon Persson 6-4, 6-4
4. Daniel Emirzian (MMC) def. Marcos Fondelius (UPIKE) 7-6 (6), 6-1
5. Gabriel Azala (MMC) def. Federico Toscano (UPIKE) 6-4, 6-3
6. Pawel Tarasewicz (UPIKE) default (MMC)


Doubles
1. Emirzian/Persson (MMC) def. Tarasewicz/Fondelius (UPIKE) 8-6
2. Nicolas Rodenbusch/Billet (UPIKE) def. Lozano/Azala (MMC) 8-1
3. Connor Smith/Dmitry Babenkov (UPIKE) default (MMC)


 
Match Notes
Pikeville 2-4; National Ranking: No. 20
Martin Methodist 0-5; National Ranking: UR
AUM Spring Invitational