Hens Win Fifth Straight by Downing Hampton, 4-0

Wednesday, April 18

DFH Outdoor Courts

3:00 PM

University of Delaware

Hampton

4/18/2018 7:28:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Delaware Athletics

NEWARK, Del. – The Blue Hens enter this coming weekend's CAA Tournament on a hot streak as Delaware won its fifth straight contest with Wednesday afternoon's 4-0 victory over Hampton at the Delaware Field House Outdoor Courts.

UD (17-7) also swept doubles play for the fifth consecutive match to hold momentum going into singles action.

Freshman Nathan Benyowitz (Los Angeles, Calif./Shalhevet) and sophomore Laurenz Lankes (Cologne, Germany) led off with their team-best ninth straight win by topping Fedor Shirin and Peter Odegbami, 6-2, in No. 2 doubles.

Junior co-captain Blaise Casselbury (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Country Day School) and senior Colin Wong (Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia/SMK Kota Kemuning) clinched the doubles point in top-flight play with the 7-6 (2) win over Matthew Foster-Estwick and Davy van Geerke.

Sophomore Curran Verma (Gaithersburg, Md./Laurel Springs) and freshman Justice Jones (Laurel, Md./JTCC School) also posted a 7-6 (2) score versus Fernando Fernandes and Charles Hudson in the third spot to wrap doubles action.

Jones continued the momentum with a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory against Luke Thompson in No. 4 singles while Verma edged Van Geerke, 6-4, 6-4 in the third spot.

Freshman Guilherme Valdoleiros (Marco de Canaveses, Portugal/Escola Secundária de Marco de Canaveses) captured the match in the sixth flight with a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Shirin.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

Pablo Montana

“This was a battle! Nathan and Laurenz continue to play exceptional doubles and they gave us a quick boost after their doubles win. Sweeping the doubles point was a big difference in today's match as we had the momentum going into the singles. Justice got us a quick point and Curran battled and held his own to win his match. Finally, Gui was able to clinch the match for us. This was a fun match for us to win as we lost to Hampton last year, 4-3, and we will use this confidence and momentum going into the conference tournament this weekend.”

HEN SCRATCHINGS

· The Blue Hens finish regular season play with a singles mark of 107-82 (.567), including a 78-50 (.609) record in dual match play.

· Delaware wraps regular season action by going 59-38 (.608) in doubles matches, including a 45-24 (.652) mark in dual match play.

· Six Hens have at least 11 singles wins on the year.

· Guilherme Valdoleiros is 12-2 in his first season at Delaware.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

· Friday, April 20 – #8 Delaware vs. #1 William & Mary – CAA Tournament Quarterfinals at Elon – 9 a.m. – Jimmy Powell Tennis Center (Elon, N.C.)

· Saturday, April 21 – CAA Tournament Semifinals – 10 a.m. – Jimmy Powell Tennis Center (Elon, N.C.)

· Sunday, April 22 – CAA Tournament Championship – 10 a.m. – Jimmy Powell Tennis Center (Elon, N.C.)

MEDIA CONTACT: Maggie Hayon, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 302-379-9182