Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NEED TO KNOW:
Match 1 Score: Piedmont 8, Salve Regina 1
Match 2 Score: Piedmont 7, Bethel 2
Records: Piedmont, 9-4; Salve Regina, 0-4; Bethel, 5-4

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Piedmont men's tennis team began its Orlando Spring Break Trip with a pair of wins over Salve Regina and Bethel (MN) on Sunday.

The Lions began the day with an 8-1 triumph over Salve Regina before downing Bethel by a 7-2 margin in the evening. 

Match 1: Piedmont 8, Salve Regina 1

The Lions began their trip with a clinical performance against the Seahawks, sweeping all three doubles lines before taking five of the six singles matches, all of which came in straight sets.

The senior duo of Leo Galarza and Kody Dills put the first point of the match on the board, cruising 8-2 at No. 3 before Simon Johnstone and freshman Brent Sherman rolled to an 8-3 victory at No. 2, picking up their second overall win together and first this spring.

Finally, it was a rookie and a veteran helping Piedmont to the doubles sweep, as Rohan Kavali and Jackson Traylor prevailed 8-4 at No. 1.

Junior JC Foster put the Lions within a point of clinching the match, picking up his first singles win of the season in dominant fashion as he did not lose a game on his way to a 6-0, 6-0 victory.

The clinching victory came courtesy of Johnstone, who cruised (6-2, 6-2) at No. 2. Dills added on with a 6-2, 6-1 victory, his second dual singles win of the spring.

After Salve Regina salvaged a point with a win at No. 3, Traylor added his second win of the spring (6-1, 6-3), cruising to a two-set victory at no. 4 while Kavali put the finishing touches on the win, with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 1, marking his first career win at No. 1 singles.

Match 2: Piedmont 7, Bethel (MN) 2

The Lions were able to jump out to a fast start, sweeping doubles for a second consecutive match. Yannick Wassmer Navarro and Connor Phelps had the first point at No. 3, winning in perfect 8-0 fashion while Charles Parnell and Mike Porcelli cruised at No. 2 with an 8-3 victory.

Finally, it was Silas Sandles and Johnstone teaming up for an 8-4 win at No. 1, marking Johnstone's second doubles win of the day.

Leading 3-0, the Lions took care of business in short order, although the Royals would fight it out in a few matches, taking a pair.

Wassmer Navarro got the job done first, winning 6-0, 6-3 to make it 4-0 Piedmont, putting them one away from clinching. It was Sandles who closed the door, winning 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 for his team-leading third win at that spot this season. Wassmer Navarro and Sandles pace the team in singles wins, with nine and eight, respectively on the 2023-24 season.

Bethel put up a fight, rallying to win at No. 4 as Watson Sheard outlasted Phelps (6-3, 1-6, 10-8) in a third-set match tiebreaker. Phelps fell behind in the breaker 8-4, but battled back to make it 8-8 before Sheard closed it out.

With the match in hand, the Lions returned the favor as Porcelli (6-3, 3-6, 10-7) won his third-set match breaker 10-7 at No. 5 to make it 5-1 in favor of the Lions. 

After the Royals put up a two-set win at No. 3, freshman Mark Backeberg (7-5, 4-6, 10-3) put the exclamation point on a perfect 2-0 day by winning his third-set match breaker 10-3 at No. 2. 

Up next, the Lions will have a couple of days off from competition in Orlando before returning to the courts against Wisconsin-Superior on Wednesday, March 13 at 10 a.m.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- JC Foster picked up his first win of the season, rolling to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles to put Piedmont up 4-0 in the first match of the day, against Salve Regina.
- Johnstone picked up a pair of doubles wins, teaming with Brent Sherman at No. 2 in the opening match before returning to the top spot with Sandles for an 8-4 win over Bethel.
- Wassmer Navarro did not drop a single game in his doubles match at No. 3 with Phelps, and then won the first set 6-0 at No. 1 singles before polishing off a straight-set win against Bethel.

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