WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNCW men's tennis dominated North Florida in the home opener on Sunday afternoon, 6-1. With the victory, the Seahawks improved to 3-1 on the season while the Ospreys fell to 1-8.

"Proud to get our first home win of the year in front of a great Seahawk crowd," Head Coach Mait DuBois said. "UNF has a young team that competes extremely well and I'm proud of how we handled it as a team."

The Seahawks earned the doubles point to begin the match, getting a pair of 6-4 victories from Harold Huens and Lukas Steffen in No. 2 doubles and Alex de Gabriele and Jordi Domenech in No. 3 doubles. 

Huens and Steffen returned to the win column against Lorenzo Leti Messina and Joao Portugal, improving to 3-1 on the season. De Gabriele and Domenech teamed up for the first time this season and defeated the duo of Chase Healey and Jean Deloziere. 

"We tried some different pairings with our doubles today and really liked what we saw there."

Huens remains unbeaten in singles competition. The senior earned his third victory of the year against Andreas Scott 6-3, 6-4 in No. 1 singles. Senior Sam Nicholson posted his third straight victory in No. 2 singles against Bruno Vietri, 6-2, 6-4.

Joseph Wayand improved to 4-0 on the season in No. 3 singles as the senior coasted to victory against Youssef Labbene 6-2, 6-1, earning praise from DuBois. "Joe put in another very professional performance today being the first guy off the court."

Steffen defeated Deloziere in No. 4 singles, claiming the first set 6-3. Steffen, a junior, prevailed in the second set 7-6, winning the tiebreaker 7-4. Senior Trey Mallory earned his first win of the season in No. 6 singles, defeating Portugal 3-6, 6-1 [10-8]. 

"Guys are making strides, and we are excited for what is coming up. Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting. Our guys love playing in front of the home crowd."

UP NEXT 

The Seahawks travel to Columbia, S.C. to take on No. 17 South Carolina on Friday at 11 a.m.