ABILENE - With a six-match winning streak in hand, Abilene Christian men's tennis looks to keep the train rolling as it hosts Lamar at the Teague Center at 10 a.m. Saturday.
After dropping their first four matches of the season, the Wildcats have been dominant in their last six outings with a pair of sweeps. They took down Tyler Junior College and Trinity University at the Teague Center last week, with each victory coming by a 6-1 decision.
Like ACU, Lamar was battle-tested by the nation's top competition in the early going. It finds itself at 7-4, with three of its losses coming to power conference opponents. The Cardinals opened the spring with losses to Texas and Baylor and went on to lose to Arkansas and Rice.
Six of Lamar's victories have come through a trio of doubleheaders against the likes of Alcorn State, Arkansas-Fort Smith and, most recently, Collin College. The Cardinals engineered a 7-0 sweep of the Cougars on Feb. 16 before grinding out a 4-3 win later in the afternoon.
Daniel Morozov has been the Wildcats' mainstay at court No. 1 in singles and doubles, going undefeated throughout the team's winning streak. He defeated Trinity's Jared Perry, 6-2, 6-3 last week after teaming up with
Benjamin McDonald for a 6-3 victory in doubles.
The pair has won its four doubles matches together, beginning against Lubbock Christian on Jan. 25. Morozov previously teamed up with
Merse Deli to capture the doubles points at SMU and Midwestern State.
Alejandro Verdasco and
Martin Delnido have each won their last five singles matchups, while
Tomas Tischner has won his last six. Verdasco has partnered with
Ethan Scribner to win five of the duo's last six doubles contests.
Guy Dagan has the hot hand for Lamar with a four-match winning streak at No. 6 singles. Leon Nickel has won his past three singles competitions and has played at court No. 1 on six occasions, the most among the Cardinals.
Nickel and Fabian Anthin make up Lamar's go-to duo at No. 1 doubles, where they are 5-5.
