ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNCG men's tennis opens the 2021 spring season on a loss this Saturday, with UNC Asheville grabbing a 5-2 win at home. The Spartans are now 3-3 in spring openers over the past six years, and 14-8 against all current Big South members over that period of time. 

The Bulldogs got off to the superior start after clinching the doubles point. UNCA's second and third pairing each earned 6-4 wins to give their side the first team point of the day, but the combination of Nico Grewe and Ollie Palmer continued their success from last spring, with a 7-6 win over Asheville's top-pair. Together, Grewe and Palmer put together five doubles wins before the season was cut short in 2020, all of which came while competing in the top seed. 

UNC Asheville clinched its victory early however, as the hosts claimed the top-four seeds of singles successively. With Roger Rogowski, Ollie Palmer and Hugh Knapp dropping straight set decisions in order, Grewe went down in three while playing in the No. 4. The senior took the opening set of his singles matchup 6-0 before coming up short in back-to-back sets, as the Bulldogs went out in front 5-0.

Alexander Zuckerman and Cooper Wyett grabbed the Spartans' two points on the evening, working at the fifth and sixth seeds respectively. The two took down their opponents in straight sets, with Wyett allowing UNCA's Finlay Ray McFadyen to take just three games over their two sets of competition.

COMING UP NEXT
The Spartans make the quick turnaround, opening the SoCon season against Furman in Greenville, S.C. this Sunday at 1 p.m. The Paladins finished runner-up in the 2019 SoCon standings, and just edged out the Spartans in a 4-3 final last spring.

#letsgoG