Kalashnikov Walks it Off For the Phoenix in 4-3 Victory over Sewanee

Box Score SEWANEE, Tenn. - - The Cumberland Men's Tennis team faced off against the no. 18th ranked team in NCAA DIII, Sewanee, this afternoon and took the win on the road.

Cumberland jumped out ahead of the Tigers with a momentum grabbing doubles point, sweeping Sewanee on all three courts.

Every court was separated by two or more games, first winning the top doubles spot by a strong score of 6-2. Vitor Ferreria and Julian Parada had an excellent season playing the poll position for the Phoenix last year and the pair only let the Tigers hold serve twice, while not dropping a single serve of their own.

Gabriel Godoy and Elisey Kalashnikov played at the no. 2 spot and after they let the Tigers hold their first serve, the two of them never trailed again. The pair responded with their own service hold and shortly after went on a run to make it 4-1, which the Tigers could never recover from, handing CU a 6-3 victory, as well as the doubles point.

The final doubles court was the closest of the three, though Daniel Wessels and Paul-Daniel Meyer came out the victors, 7-5, making it a three match sweep in doubles play.

Vitor Ferreira struggled to find his footing in his singles match, despite having just beat his opponent in double play. After a competitive first set, the sophomore fell quickly in the second, giving the Tigers their first point of the match, 6-3, 6-0.

Paul-Daniel Meyer, on court three, was on the right side of the next match to end. Meyer took both sets with relative ease as he replicated his score from the first in the second, winning 6-2, 6-2.

Just minutes later his doubles partner fell on court no. 2, as the Tigers took down Daniel Wessels. The senior held serve for two games to start the match but Sewanee responded with two holds of their own and broke Wessels third service game and never looked back, winning 6-3, 6-2.

It took twenty minutes for anything else to change as the teams dueled back and forth, hitting long rallies and longer games. Julian Parada was the next domino to fall, losing in a tight contest at no. 4 singles, 6-4, 6-4.

With the Tigers taking a 3-2 match lead the Phoenix needed to respond quickly and eight minutes later it was Gabriel Godoy doing just that. The freshman dominated in the first set to the tune of a 6-1 thumping, and snuffed out the Tigers no. 5 in a second set tiebreak, 7-6 (7-3).

Evening the match at 3-3, it all came down to Elisey Kalashnikov at the no. 6 spot. Kalashnikov's match ran over two hours long, starting the marathon off with a tiebreaker in the first set which the Russian won 7-6 (7-4). Sewanee responded in emphatic fashion with a 6-1 victory in the second set, making for a deciding third set. Running out to a 3-0 lead in the set, Kalashnikov eventually won the third and sealed the victory for the Phoenix, taking down a highly ranked DIII opponent in the Tigers.

The Phoenix will take on the current no. 5 ranked team in Tennessee Wesleyan next, heading to Athens, Tennessee on February 20th.

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Players Mentioned

Vitor Ferreira: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Elisey Kalashnikov: 6' 1"; Junior

Paul-Daniel Meyer: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Julian Parada: 5' 10"; Senior

Daniel Wessels: 6' 2"; Senior

Gabriel Godoy: 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Vitor Ferreira
: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Elisey Kalashnikov
: 6' 1"; Junior

Paul-Daniel Meyer
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Julian Parada
: 5' 10"; Senior

Daniel Wessels
: 6' 2"; Senior

Gabriel Godoy
: 5' 6"; Freshman