CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Lee University men's tennis team opened Gulf South Conference play with a 6-1 win at Delta State University Saturday afternoon. The 13^th-ranked Flames swept the doubles matches and five of the six singles contests to move to 2-0 overall.

Mike and Quinn Groenendijk opened the doubles action with a 6-4 win over Harry Browing and Jacob Lubbe. Jordi Dasi and Wihan van der Merwe secured the doubles point with a 6-1 margin against Goran Krivokapic and Tom Rance. Francisco Faria and Filipe Krohn completed the sweep with a 6-4 defeat of Emiliano Elizarraraz and Sebastian Hernandez.

Lee grabbed a 2-0 lead following a 6-1, 6-2 win by van der Merwe at No. 2 singles against Lubbe. Faria was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Elizarraraz at No. 1 singles. Quinn Groenendijk clinched the team win after beating Browning 6-1 and 6-2.

Krohn dropped just one game in his straight set win against Hernandez. The Statesmen (1-5, 1-1 GSC) avoided the shutout with Rance's three-set win over Mike Groenendijk. Dasi supplied the final margin with his three-set win against Krivokapic. Dasi won the first set 6-2 before dropping the second 6-4. He won the super set 10-5 to claim the match.

The Flames are scheduled to travel to the Gulf Coast next weekend to battle West Florida on Saturday and Spring Hill College on Sunday.
 
Coach Patric Hynes' thoughts:
"It wasn't an easy trip, the conditions were pretty tough. Good to get our first conference win today."