NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Playing its first match in 12 days, the University of North Dakota men's tennis team answered any questions about rust with a 7-0 drubbing over Tennessee State on Friday evening in Nashville.
 
North Dakota (3-1), beginning a stretch of three matches in three days, dropped only one set in the victory to collect its third straight victory and first away from Grand Forks.
 
Kicking off doubles play, the duo of Johnnie Carmichael and Davide Callegari opened the contest with a 6-3 triumph on the No. 2 court before Jake Kuhlman and Chuck Tang followed with a 6-4 win from the No. 3 position to quickly capture the 1-0 lead for the Fighting Hawks. The visitors put an exclamation on the two-man play when Nejc Sitar and Lukas Buth collected a 6-4 victory on the top court to sweep doubles play.
 
Sitar wasted no time to keep the momentum rolling in singles play, rattling off a 6-4, 6-1 win from the No. 1 position followed by Carmichael building off a 7-6 triumph in the first set to win 6-3 in the second and sweep his match on the No. 3 court to quickly give the Hawks a 3-0 cushion.
 
After dropping the first set, 6-4, Callegari leveled his match at the No. 4 position at one with a 7-5 win to send it to a tiebreaking third set.  There, senior outlasted his opponent, 11-9, to capture the all-important fourth point of the night for UND and cementing the victory.
 
On the bottom courts, Kuhlman posted a 6-0, 6-2 triumph while Pavle Drobnjakovic cruised to back-to-back 6-1 scores to complete the sweep for the Fighting Hawks and begin the road trip with a bang.
 
North Dakota returns to action on Saturday evening when the Fighting Hawks battle Lipscomb at 5 p.m. in Nashville.