THE GAME FACTS
Score: Roanoke 8, Southern Virginia 1
Records: Maroons 1-0; Knights 0-2
Location: Salem, VA
The Short Story: The Maroons kicked off the 2023-24 men's tennis season with an 8-1 home victory over the Knights.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Roanoke swept the three doubles matches to snag the early lead. Grant Sikes and Zach Kriebel defeated Abram Robbins and Jeffrey Purcell 8-7 (7) at #1, Federico Maccari and Julio Marques scored an 8-2 win over Samuel Larson and Traegen Kingston at #2, and John-Henry Herrington and Jackson Wagner blanked Jacob Feldman and Aidan Hall 8-0 at #3.
• The Maroons claimed five of the six singles flights to cruise to the win. That included four straight-set victories: Sikes rolled past Purcell 6-0, 6-1 at #2, Marques bested Larson 6-3, 6-0 at #3, Herrington beat Kingston 6-3, 6-4 at #4, and Lance Beheler took down Feldman 6-4, 6-3 at #5.
• Wagner defeated Hall at #6 singles by a count of 1-6, 6-2, 0-5 (retired).
• SVU's lone point came in a tight match at the top singles spot, where Robbins outlasted Maccari 6-4, 6-7 (5), 11-9.

Up Next: Roanoke will take the court again on Sunday, Oct. 8, with a 10 a.m. home contest against UVA Wise.