The Valparaiso University men’s tennis team gained its first dual match win of the year on Friday night in Cincinnati, going on the road to whitewash host Xavier 7-0. The Crusaders took every singles match and both doubles matches that were completed in a clean sweep of their Big East opposition.

How It Happened

• The Crusaders started the match favorably by taking the doubles point. Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa. / Greater Latrobe) and Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) notched a 6-3 win at No. 1, while Kweisi Kenyatte (Detroit, Mich. / East English Village Preparatory) and Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio / Poland) teamed up at No. 2 to earn a 6-4 victory. The No. 3 doubles match went unfinished.
• Kissell continued his spring success by sweeping Jack Dykema 6-3, 6-4 at the top singles spot. Kenyatte also won convincingly at No. 3, doing so 6-4, 6-3.
• Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) was the other Crusader to notch a sweep, dispatching his Musketeers opponent 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5.
• The other three singles matches all belonged to the Crusaders in three-set affairs. Ancona (3-6, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2), Gardner (7-5, 6-7, 10-8 at No. 4) and Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) (6-1, 1-6, 10-8 at No. 6) were all victorious.

Inside the Match

• Gardner’s doubles win was the 61^th of his career, which ranks sixth in program history. He now owns nine doubles victories on the year.
• Gardner got his first singles win of the spring campaign, upping his overall season record to 9-6 and bettering his career singles win mark to 67, which ranks seventh in program history and puts him two wins away from entering a tie for fifth.
• Kenyatte bumped his season record to 11-3 in singles competition, while Carvajal moved to 9-4 in his first Crusader campaign. Kenyatte owns the team lead in singles wins.
• Kissell is up to 57 career singles wins, climbing him past Nate Buckert (1998-2002) for sole possession of eighth in program history. He’s 10-3 thus far in the 2017-18 season.
• Ancona improved his season record to 10-4, joining Kissell and Kenyatte with a double-figure win total. Only a sophomore, Ancona has won 33 singles matches in his career.
• Brozovich picked up his first singles win of the spring, upping his season record to 8-3.
• Kissell is up to 10 doubles wins for the year, while Kenyatte gained his ninth. Ancona’s doubles win allowed him to keep the team lead in that area with 11.

Up Next

The Crusaders will make their way to Indianapolis as they continue a busy weekend against rival Butler on Saturday at 1 p.m. Live scoring is available for Saturday’s match.