UMBC

Cristian Hodel won a tough three-setter at No. 1 singles

Fort Myers, Fla.- Junior Rasid Winklaar (Willemstad, Curacao/Abraham Baldwin) paced the UMBC men’s tennis team to a 5-2 victory over host Florida Gulf Coast University in a Monday afternoon match at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

The Retrievers reached the 10-win mark on the campaign, improving to 10-3 with their fifth consecutive win. FGCU fell to 3-13 on the spring.

Winklaar teamed with sophomore Adam Duprat (Bobigny, France) to cruise past Steve Binninger and Frank Acierno, 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. UMBC captured the doubles point as senior Mwali Phiri (Yonkers, N.Y./Tyler JC) and junior Joe Adewumi (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon) edged Carlo Checchia and Dean Tsamas, 9-8, at the No. 1 doubles slot.

Winklaar then posted a decisive 6-1, 6-3 victory over Binninger at No. 2 singles and sophomore No. 5 Gauthier Berret (Lagny Sur Marne, France) dropped only two games in a 6-0, 6-2 win over Collin Brown.

UMBC’s other two victories went the distance. No. 1 junior Cristian Hodel (Calarasi, Romania/Boise State) prevailed, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, over FGCU’s Matthew Rock, while at No. 6, Phiri edged Mitchell Lvovsky, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Winklaar has now won six consecutive singles matches and the southpaw is 8-2 in his initial spring for the Retrievers. He is 3-0 at the No. 2 position.

The men’s tennis program has hit double digits in victories for 14 consecutive seasons.

The Retrievers remain in Florida and will play at Florida Atlantic University in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.