GRAND FORKS, N.D. – It was a clean sweep for the University of North Dakota men's tennis team as the Fighting Hawks took down Marquette, 7-0, in Friday afternoon's home opener inside Choice Health & Fitness.
 
Leo Galliano and Kotaro Matsumura teamed up for a stifling 6-1 defeat of the Golden Eagles from the No. 1 spot in doubles play and were soon joined in victory by Christos Alex and Walker Valentine after their 6-3 win at No. 3. In the unfinished match at middle court, Justin Ilic and Darrshan Suresh Kumar held the 4-3 advantage when UND went up 1-0.
 
Valentine claimed the first singles point with his fiery 6-3, 6-0 victory at the No. 5 position before Alex secured another win at the No. 6 court with a 6-1, 6-3 showing. Ilic clinched the team win by going 6-3, 6-3 from the fourth spot as Matsumura added to the dominating performances with a 6-4, 6-4 clutch victory at No. 3 spot.
 
All eyes turned to the top two spots for the final two results and each match proved to be well worth the wait.
 
Galliano took set one at ferocious speed, 6-2, before faltering 6-4 in the second. Facing a super tiebreaker, the sophomore knotted into an early back-and-forth battle before building momentum into a 10-6 victory. The Fighting Hawks were firmly ahead at 6-0 when Suresh Kumar continued his battle at the two spot. He fended off an early deficit to tie things up and take the first set at 7-5 and did it again in the second in nearly the exact same manner to hold on, 7-5, for the final sweep-inducing victory.
 
North Dakota will return to action on Sunday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. face-off against Montana State.

For more information on North Dakota men's tennis, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmtennis.