BELMONT, N.C. – The Belmont Abbey men's tennis team moved into first place alone in the Conference Carolinas standings with a 7-0 victory over Francis Marion Friday at the Reidy Tennis Center. Both teams had entered the match undefeated in the conference with the Patriots also coming in with a 10-match winning streak.

The Abbey won two out of the three matches in doubles play by identical 6-2 scores to secure a point before moving on to singles play.

Zachary Blythe and Nelson Stafford won in No. 2 doubles and followed that up with wins in No. 2 and No. 3 singles play, respectively. Blythe rallied to win his match 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 over Harri Lloyd-Evans after dropping the first set as well as Kai Lloveras in No. 6 singles with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Adam Ernberg. Lloveras' victory officially clinched the match for the Crusaders.

Belmont Abbey is 16-16 overall and improves to 6-0 in the conference. Francis Marion is now 10-3, 4-1/

RESULTS
DOUBLES

1. Liam Day/Leonel Gonzalez (FMU) def. Nicholas Cary/Xaveam Van Wijk (BAC), 6-3
2. Nelson Stafford/Zachary Blythe (BAC) def. Harri Lloyd-Evans/Martin Barbera (FMU), 6-2
3. Andres Golindano/Alex Turner (BAC) vs. Adam Ernberg/Luis Lopez Sarasa (FMU), 6-2

SINGLES

1. Xaveam Van Wijk (BAC) def. Liam Day (FMU), 6-1, 6-3
2. Zachary Blythe (BAC) def.  Harri Lloyd-Evans (FMU), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Nelson Stafford (BAC) vs. Leonel Gonzalez (FMU), 7-5, 6-1
4. Kent Shiell (BAC) vs. Martin Barbera (FMU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
5. Nicholas Cary (BAC) vs. Luis Lopez Sarasa (FMU), 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
6. Kai Lloveras (BAC) vs. Adam Ernberg (FMU), 2-6, 6-0, 6-1

 
UP NEXT

• The Crusaders host Mount Olive at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Reidy Tennis Center in a matchup of two of the top teams in the conference.
• Mount Olive will enter the match with a 4-1 conference record.