PIKEVILLE, Ky. - UPIKE men's tennis defeated the Johnson Royals 7-0 in their AAC opener. 

Paulo Castillo and Alfonso Robinson started the doubles matches with a 6-1 win over JU's Benjamin Barrios and Miguel Loo. Martin Lorenzo and Anton Hofman secured the doubles team point with a 6-3 victory over Pedro Ozelum and Igor Parous. Timur Chsherbukov and Mateo Vargas capped off doubles play with a 6-3 win over Mason Winsley and Felippe Amore.  

In the singles matches, Timur Chsherbukov defeated Miguel Loo 6-1, 6-2 and Anton Hofman defeated Benjamin Barrios 6-2, 6-4 to go up 3-0. Paulo Castillo secured the match for the Bears with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Noah Brown. After Castillo secured the win, Mateo Vargas, Alfonso Robinson, and Martin Lorenzo all won their matches 2-0. Vargas downed Felippe Amore 6-2, 6-0, Robinson won 6-4, 6-2 over Pedro Ozelim, and Lorenzo won 6-1, 6-3 over Mason Wrisley.  

Saturday's win over the Royals was UPIKE men's tennis' first-ever AAC match and their first-ever AAC win. UPIKE has won two in a row and is 3-1 (1-0 AAC) following Saturday's win. The Bears will travel to Portsmouth, Ohio for a match with Shawnee State Sunday afternoon.  

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