GRANTHAM, Pa. -- Kutztown swept six singles matches and claimed two-of-three in doubles to earn a 7-0 non-conference victory at Messiah on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bears improved to 3-0 during their fall season, while the Falcons fell to 0-2 with the loss.
Messiah got off to a fast start with a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles but KU answered with 6-4 victories at No. 2 and No. 3.
Emmitt Robinson (Ingersoll, Ontario/Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute) and
Linus Vennekold (Laatzen, Germany) got the Bears going with their triumph at No. 3 over Elijah Noll and Luke Risser before
Joaquin Perez (Pachuca, Mexico/Escuela Americana) and
Nikita Safonov (Podolsk, Russia) outlasted Brady Hahn and Timothy Sheaffer at No. 2.
Kutztown carried the momentum of its doubles comeback into singles, winning five of the six matches in straight sets.
Vennekold downed Lance Wilson 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3,
Henrique Rocha (Jaticua, Brazil/Escola SEB Maceio) beat Hahn 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2 and
Luis Lopes (Piracicaba, Brazil/Colegio Saber) cruised over Noll 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 to quickly provide KU the requisite four points needed to win the match. Lopes earned his first collegiate victory in his Golden Bear debut.
Raphael Horeau Lebon defeated Sheaffer 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4 and
Dang Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam/) beat Chase Wilson in a thriller at No. 1. The Nguyen/Wilson match was the only one on the day to go longer than two sets but Nguyen rallied for a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 13-11 win.
Lucas Cherniak (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini) finished off the Falcons with a straight set win over Michael Sell at No. 6. Cherniak prevailed in a first set tiebreaker 7-6 (3) and took the second set 6-1.
Under new head coach Pete Smith, Kutztown is off to its first 3-0 start to a season since 2014-15.
Kutztown will look to keep its winning ways going on Sunday when it travels to Chestnut Hill for a noon start.
