No. 21 Men's Tennis Blows Past Nicholls, 7-0

Sunday, February 18

New Orleans

1 PM

Tulane University

Nicholls State

Photo by: Parker Waters

Feb 18, 2018 | Men's Tennis

NEW ORLEANS - Following a 14-day break, the 21st-ranked Tulane men's tennis team showed no sign of slowing down with a 7-0 home victory over Nicholls on Sunday afternoon at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center.

"Our guys stepped up to the plate today," director of tennis Mark Booras said. "We had a couple weeks off as a training block and said we wanted to put it all on the line. Nicholls brought a solid program in and our guys executed from the beginning. One of the big challenges is being able to be professional the whole time because it doesn't matter if you're playing No. 10 in the country or not. We have to be able to produce the entire day. I really liked how our guys did that today."

Tulane (4-2) set the tone early in doubles play, earning first-game breaks at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the lineup. Ranked 42nd, Tyler Schick and Luis Erlenbusch were first off the courts with a 6-1 win on court two, before Constantin Schmitz and Ewan Moore finished off their opponents on court one, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point.

The Green Wave claimed the first set on all six singles courts, as Hamish Stewart cruised from the No. 3 position, 6-1, 6-1 to push the lead to 2-0 in the overall match. Ranked 29th nationally, Schmitz was next to finish at the No. 1 spot, 6-0, 6-1, before 103rd-ranked Ewan Moore closed out from the No. 2 position, 6-1, 6-3, to clinch the match.

Tulane did not let up at the back of the lineup, as Erlenbusch took down Tobias Lentz, 6-1, 6-4, on court four, before Eric Wagner finished off Eduardo Marino, 6-1, 6-2, on court six for his first dual singles win of the spring.

"Eric did a fantastic job today," Booras said. "This was a great opportunity for him to get his feet wet after basically being thrown into the fire. I liked how he kept to his gameplan and didn't try to overdo things or overthink things. That's why he ended up being very successful."

Tim Ruetzel eased his way to a 6-2 first set win playing out of the No. 5 spot, and despite getting out to a 5-2 advantage in the second set, was forced into 6-6 tiebreaker after a big comeback by Lewis Cox. Ruetzel held on however, winning the tiebreak, 8-6, to complete the 7-0 shutout for the Green Wave.

Tulane remains home to host a pair of top 25 opponents, beginning Friday, February 23 against 14th-ranked Mississippi State (5-1), before taking on 24th-ranked Texas Tech (12-3). Both matches will begin at 1 p.m. (CT) at City Park.

#21 Tulane 7, Nicholls 0

Singles competition
1. #29 Constantin Schmitz (TLN) def. Alvaro Barranco (NICH) 6-0, 6-1
2. #103 Ewan Moore (TLN) def. Oklesander Podgursky (NICH) 6-1, 6-3
3. Hamish Stewart (TLN) def. Nestor Giribet (NICH) 6-1, 6-1
4. Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Tobias Lentz (NICH) 6-1, 6-4
5. Tim Ruetzel (TLN) def. Lewis Cox (NICH) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
6. Eric Wagner (TLN) def. Eduardo Marino (NICH) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Constantin Schmitz/Ewan Moore (TLN) def. Tobias Lentz/Oklesander Podgursky (NICH) 6-2
2. #42 Tyler Schick/Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Lewis Cox/Nestor Giribet (NICH) 6-1
3. Hamish Stewart/Tim Ruetzel (TLN) vs. Alvaro Barranco/Leo Santos (NICH) 5-2, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,1,2*,4,6,5)