NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry men's tennis team opened its 2008 season Friday by defeating the North Georgia Saints 7-2 at the Cannon Tennis Courts. The victory comes in the inaugural match for new head coach Juan Pablo Favero.

The Indians opened the afternoon by sweping doubles competition. The teams of Jeremy Smith (Durban, South Africa) and Daryl Van Vuuren (Durban, South Africa), Lucas Mattos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Maxim Sukharev (Vilnius, Lithuania), and Mikael Jurkovic (Atlanta, Ga.) and Felipe Sobrinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) each scored decisive 8-2 wins.

Sukharev kept the momentum going with a 6-4, 6-3 win over NGCSU's Jacob Eastwood in No. 1 singles competition. The clinching point came in the third flight, where Smith lost the first set but battled back to notch the 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Samuel Moore.

With the outcome no longer in question, the Indians picked up singles wins from No. 4 Mattos (6-2, 6-1 over Marjin Bal) and No. 5 Sobrinho (6-2, 6-2 over Grant Partrick).

"I'm very proud of the way our guys battled today," Favero said of his first collegiate coaching victory. "We set the tone with our strong doubles play and never lost the momentum."

The Indians will go on the road for the first time in 2008 when they face 18th-ranked USC Aiken on Monday.
This article was written by Student Assistant Rob Walden, a senior from Woodruff, S.C.