Non-conference win against Wichita State

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FAYETTEVILLE - Taking a break from conference play, the No. 43 University of Arkansas men's tennis team picked up a 5-2 win over No. 69 Wichita State Friday evening at the Billingsley Center. The Razorbacks won the doubles point and then collected victories in four of the six singles matches. With Friday's result, Arkansas improved to an 11-5 overall record while Wichita State dropped to 9-4.

"Today was a solid win for us," head coach Robert Cox said. "It was a real tight match, much closer than the scoreboard showed. It felt much more like a 4-3 match. The doubles point was huge to get us going into the singles because we had struggled lately in that area. Wichita State is a good team and very well coach so I'm really proud of our guys for the way they played. Now, we have to be able to get it going again Sunday back at home against Southern Miss."

In doubles play, the Razorbacks opened the scoring with an 8-2 win on court two by the team of Gregoire Lehmann and Nikolas Zogaj. After a win on court three by Wichita State, the doubles point was decided in a tiebreak on court one between Arkansas' Hall Fess and Matt Walters and Wichita State's David Cavalcanti and Matheus Pereira. The Razorbacks pulled through with a 9-8(7) triumph over the No. 72 doubles team in the country. As partners, Fess and Walters improved to 17-4 overall and 9-3 in dual play.

Walters carried the momentum over to his singles match to put Arkansas ahead, 2-0. The Razorback senior knocked off Tomislav Gregurovic in straight sets on court three, 6-1, 6-3. The home team jumped out to a 3-0 match lead by way of another straight-set win, this time by Mike Ward on court five. He posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Erick Reyes to put Arkansas on the brink.

Wichita State got on the board with a win by Pereira over Lehmann on court one but the Razorbacks got an immediate response on court two. Ranked No. 120 in the latest national poll, Zogaj defeated Cavalcanti with a 6-3, 7-5 scoreline. The win gave Zogaj his team-leading 15th singles victory of the season and clinched the match win for Arkansas.

Jovan Parlic added the Razorbacks' fifth point of the day with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Juan Estenssoro on court six. In the longest match of the day, Manfred Jeske dropped a tough straight-set decision to Guillermo Nicol. The visiting player won a pair of tiebreaks, both by 10-8 scores, to post the final point of the match.

Arkansas closes out its non-conference weekend Sunday afternoon with a match against Southern Miss. First serve of the weekend finale is scheduled for noon (CT) at the Billingsley Tennis Center. For more information regarding Razorback tennis or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

No. 43 Arkansas 5
No. 69 Wichita State 2

Singles
1. Pereira (WS) def. Lehmann (ARK), 6-4, 6-3
2. #120 Zogaj (ARK) def. Cavalcanti (WS), 6-3, 7-5
3. Walters (ARK) def. Gregurovic (WS), 6-1, 6-3
4. Nicol (WS) def. Jeske (ARK), 7-6(8), 7-6(8)
5. Ward (ARK) def. Reyes (WS), 6-3, 6-2
6. Parlic (ARK) def. Estenssoro (WS), 6-3, 7-6(5)

Order of Finish: 3, 5, 1, 2*, 6, 4

Doubles
1. Fess/Walters (ARK) def. Cavalcanti/Pereira (WS), 9-8(7)
2. Lehmann/Zogaj (ARK) def. Gregurovic/Nicol (WS), 8-2
3. Estenssoro/Reyes (WS) def. Nott/Jeske (WS), 8-5

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

* - clinched match