Men’s Tennis Wins First Match In Eight Years, Knocks Off LeMoyne-Owen

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – The Rust College men's tennis program has finally broken through after a minimum of 2,920 days passed without tasting a victory as the Bearcats took down the Magicians of LeMoyne-Owen College on Tuesday by a score of 5-2 for its first triumph since at least 2015.

The #1 doubles duo of Elijah Johnson and Zach Auguste set the tone for the day, opening up with a clean sweep of Marcus Frierson and Amier Cooper (8-0) while the third-slot team of Nathaniel Clark / Davonte Craven locked down the point by shutting out Kadarius Hall / Nate Banda by the same count of eight-nil.

#1 Elijah Johnson took care of business out of the top spot, giving the Blue and White an early 2-0 edge, battling back from a first set loss (2-6) by flipping the script over the final two games with a pair of 6-2 wins to beat Marcus Frierson.

#2 Zach Auguste put RC on the doorstep of victory shortly thereafter, also digging out of a deficit after falling behind (6-7) to triumph 6-3 and 6-2 over Amier Cooper.

The visitors from Memphis would not go down quietly, clawing its way back to within one after taking both the third and fourth flights despite #4 Nathaniel Clark claiming two scores apiece in each set (2-6, 2-6).

At long last, #5 Kris Huntsman secured the elusive fourth point out of the fifth flight, toppling Will Valsien with consecutive shutouts (8-0, 8-0).

With the win already in hand, #6 Davonte Craven added a cherry on top of the cake, sweeping Kadarius Hall to give Rust a three-point final margin of 5-2.

The Bearcats from Northern Mississippi will attempt to make it two-in-a-row on Saturday, April 1 when it hosts local rival Tougaloo College at 3 p.m. on campus.