WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – The Badgers men's tennis team reeled off three wins in the opening day of play in the SIAC Championship on Friday. Thursday's opening matches were cancelled due to inclement weather, but the compressed scheduled didn't seem to bother Spring Hill.
 
The Badgers got the SIAC Tournament started off in style with a 4-2 win over Benedict College.
 
The Tigers captured the doubles point to open the match, but it didn't look as if things would go that way in the beginning.
 
Spring Hill got on the board first with a 6-2 victory from the pairing of Cedric Nitz and Kurt Shiell over Quentin Eloise and Batsiraii Saurombe in the #1 doubles slot.
 
However, the Tigers would rally and pick up wins in the #2 and #3 slots to grab the point.
 
The Badgers would dominate in singles play.
 
Ricardo Peña would get Spring Hill in the win column first with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over BC's Taj Ballentyne.
 
Next, Nitz continued his winning ways with a singles win over the Tigers' Sourombe to put Spring Hill in the match lead.
 
Spring Hill's Ulf Grosseloh picked up a win over Eloise, putting the Badgers one win away from sealing the match.
 
Benedict finally got back in the win column when Julius Mutetwa held off SHC's Chris Mines 6-2, 6-3 to stave off elimination in the match.
 
Shiell put the Badgers over the top with a 6-2, 0-6, 10-7 win over Nikola Aleksic.
 
The Badgers continued to roll with a 5-0 victory over Morehouse College.
 
This time, Spring Hill grabbed the doubles point to start the match with wins from the duos of Behrendt/Mines and Peña/Grassaloh.
 
The Badgers won convincingly in singles play, too.
 
Peña continued his winning ways with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Morehouse's Warren De Vreeze while Alex Demel picked up a 6-0, 6-1 victory over the Maroon Tigers' Shelton Sutton.
 
Grossaloh defeated Phillip Smith 6-0, 6-3 and Nitz wrapped up the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Justin Samples.
The day's final match saw Spring Hill dismantle Tuskegee 4-0.
 
Spring Hill again took the doubles point behind strong play from the pairings of Nitz/Shiell and Amanor/Mines.
 
In singles play, Amanor defeated Tuskegee's Gedasse Patterson 6-1, 6-0 to keep the momentum on Spring Hill's side.
 
Nitz continued his excellent play for the day with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jabari Hargrove and Grosseloh finished the singles sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 defeat of Jabari Cole.
 
The Badgers will resume play in the SIAC Championship tomorrow with matches against Fort Valley State and Lane College.
 
 
 
Spring Hill 4, Benedict 2
 
Doubles
1. Nitz/Shiell (S) def. Eloise/Saurombe (B) 6-2
2. Mutetwa/Ballantyne (B) def. Behrendt/Demel (S) 6-4
3. Aleksic/Flores (B) def. Peña/Grossaloh (S) 7-5
 
Singles
1. Cedric Nitz (S) def. Batsiraii Saurombe (B) 1-6, 6-0, 10-5
2. Ulf Grossaloh (S) def. Quentin Eloise (B)
3. Ricardo Peña (S) def. Taj Ballantyne (B) 6-2, 6-2
4. Julius Mutetna (B) def. Chris Mines (S) 6-2, 6-3
5. Kurt Shiell (S) def. Nikola Aleksic (B) 6-2, 0-6, 10-7
6. Til Behrendt (S) vs. Armando Flores (B)
 
Spring Hill 5, Morehouse 0
 
Doubles
1. Nitz/Shiell (S) vs. Samples/De Vreeze (M) DNF
2. Behrendt/Mines (S) def. Smith/Sutton (M) 6-3
3. Peña/Grassaloh (S) def. Rheams/Pugh (M) 6-1
 
Singles
1.  Cedric Nitz (S) def. Justin Samples (M) 6-2, 6-1
2. Ulf Grossaloh (S) def. Phillip Smith (M) 6-0, 6-3
3. Ricardo Peña (S) def. Warren De Vreeze (M) 6-2, 6-2
4. Alex Demel (S) def. Shelton Sutton (M) 6-0, 6-1
5. Kurt Shiell (S) vs. Julian Rheams (M) DNF
6. Til Behrendt (S) vs. Maurice Pugh (M) DNF
 
Spring Hill 4, Tuskegee 0
 
Doubles
1. Nitz/Shiell (S) def. Harrison/Cole (T) 6-0
2. Behrendt/Demel (S) def. Mitchell/Lewis (T) 6-1
3. Amanor/Mines (S) def. Sry/Patterson (T) 6-1
 
Singles
1. Cedric Nitz (S) def. Jabari Hargrove (T) 6-1, 6-1
2. Ulf Grosseloh (S) def. Jabari Cole (T) 6-0, 6-0
3. Alex Daniel (S) vs. Tyler Mitchell (T) DNF
4. Kurt Shiell (S) vs. Samuel Lewis (T) DNF
5. Frank Amanor (S) def. Gedasse Patterson (T) 6-1, 6-0
6. Til Behrendt (S) vs. Rithy Sry (T) DNF