ORLANDO, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Tennis team crushed the NCAA Division III Wittenberg Tigers Friday with a 7-0 win. The Gyrenes dominated in the singles round, winning all six pairings with two-set sweeps.

The match opened with the Gyrenes winning the doubles point off the first two sets. Pedro Garcia and Jaun Garcia were the first to finish, winning all six games to sweep the set. Right behind them was Julien Mourad and Gianmarco Punzo with a 6-3 win. Wittenberg took the final doubles pairing 6-3, but it would be their only set win of the match.

In the singles round, the Gyrenes pounced on the Tigers and never let up on the pressure. Both Mourad and Danil Mishchanin won 6-0, 6-0 to start the round and put the Gyrenes up 3-0 in the match.
Punzo secured the clinching point with a 6-1, 6-1 win that put Ave Maria up 4-0.

Since Friday was a cross-association match, the final three singles pairings were played out and saw Pedro Garcia win 6-1, 6-1, Anderson Duggan win 6-0, 6-1, and Joao Felipe Almeida win 6-3, 6-2 to complete the 7-0 sweep over the Tigers.

Friday was the first singles round matches for Mishchanin and Mourad in the spring season and they each got a win. It was also the highest pairings for Punzo and Almeida in the singles round at third and fourth, respectively. Duggan stayed the top player for the Gyrenes and improved to 5-2 against opponents' top player and Pedro Garcia is now over .500 in the second slot at 4-3.

With the win, the Gyrenes are also over .500 at 4-3 on the year.

It is a quick turnaround for the Gyrenes as they are back in action Saturday, March 15, for their final non-conference matchup of the season. Saturday is against another NCAA Division III school from the Midwest with Ave Maria taking on the St. Norbert Green Knights. The match is set to start at 4 p.m. at the United States Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando.