DELAND, Fla. – The University of North Dakota men's tennis team bounced back from a tough defeat less than 24 hours ago to defeat USC Upstate, 4-1, on Wednesday afternoon in DeLand.
 
With the win, UND snaps a two-match losing streak and moves to 6-7 overall on the season. The Fighting Hawks also move back to the .500 mark (2-2) on their Florida road swing, with one match remaining on Friday. The victory was also the first on a neutral site in three tries.
 
In doubles play, UND did not get out to the start it wanted as the Spartans claimed the opening match on the No. 2 court to move within a victory of taking a 1-0 lead. The Hawks responded, however, with back-to-back triumphs on the first and third positions to rally for the point. Nejc Sitar and Lukas Buth started the rally with a 6-3 victory at the No. 1 court before Jake Kuhlman and Chuck Tang cemented the 1-0 advantage with a 6-2 win on the bottom court.
 
USC Upstate tied the match at one with a victory at the No. 1 position, but the Fighting Hawks once again turned momentum their way with three straight wins to collect the victory. Johnnie Carmichael claimed his first set by a 6-4, but was trailing in the second set before his opponent was forced to retire to give UND the point and a 2-1 lead on the third court.
 
Alex Reinke followed with a resounding 6-4, 6-1 triumph on the No. 6 court to put the Fighting Hawks in a clinching scenario with three matches remaining. It was Buth at the second position that pushed the green and white to victory with a three-set win. Buth opened with a 6-4 score in the first set, but dropped the second, 6-1, to push the match to a tiebreaker. There, the German came out victorious with a 6-3 win to give UND a 4-1 victory.
 
Both Davide Callegari and Kuhlman were deadlocked in a third set in both of their matches, but were called due to UND clinching the match win.
 
North Dakota returns to action on Friday with its final showdown in the Sunshine State against Bethune-Cookman at 10 a.m. from Daytona Beach.