Raleigh, N.C. -- Lynchburg College's men's tennis team set the tone with a doubles sweep and rolled to an 8-1 dual victory at William Peace to begin the spring season Thursday afternoon.

No. 1 doubles pair Zack Shane (Falls Church, Va.) and Luke Sablik (Vienna, Va.) took an 8-4 decision over Pacers top pair Dylan Betancourt and Patrick Ralph. The rest of the doubles crew followed suit; Juan Borga (Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA) and Dominick Gutierrez (Forest, Va.) claimed a dominant 8-2 win at No. 2, and No. 3 duo Brad Carson (Severna Park, Md.) and Colton Mullins (Appomattox, Va.) won easily, 8-3.

In singles competition, it was the lower half of the lineup that claimed the match for the Hornets. Sablik at No. 4 and Nick Savino (Bristol, Conn.) at No. 6 dropped just one game apiece en route to dominating wins, and Gutierrez won handily at No. 5, 6-0, 6-3.

"It's never easy going into the season, but everyone on the team supported each other," Savino, the junior captain, said. "I'm happy to see the team winning matches, and hopefully this will be the first of many."

Shane and senior Will Nsoesie (Boonsboro, Md.) also collected singles wins in the rout at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

The Hornets will hit the road for the Tar Heel State again Saturday, Feb. 10, this time heading to Fayetteville, N.C., for a date with Methodist.

--LC--