Leavenworth, Kan.— The USM men turned in a dominant all-around performance this afternoon, rolling past Kansas Wesleyan 6-1 on the Spires home court at David Brewer Park. The Spires swept all three doubles courts to grab the early advantage, then backed it up by winning five of six singles matches to cruise to their sixth straight KCAC victory.

The tone was set early on, where Saint Mary controlled play from the opening serves. At the top spot, the pairing of Nils Dueppe and Nudem Koyuncu did not drop a game against KWU's Chavez and Sherer, cruising to a 6-0 win. The No. 2 team of Korbin Priestley and Evan Maritz followed with a 6-2 victory, giving the Spires firm control of the doubles point. USM completed the sweep when Mateo Dargel Argote and Carlos Grimaldi closed out a 6-3 decision on the third court, sending the team into singles with a 1-0 lead and momentum across the lineup.

The Spires carried that momentum into singles, where the top of the order quickly put Kansas Wesleyan under pressure. At No. 1 singles, Dueppe backed up his doubles performance with a straight-sets win over Sherer, 6-1, 6-4. Grimaldi was equally efficient on the second court, handling Phelps 6-2, 6-1 to extend the Spires' lead. Those victories built a strong foundation at the top of the lineup and kept Saint Mary firmly in control the rest of the way.

Maritz delivered one of the key singles efforts of the day at No. 3. After dropping the opening set to O'Donnell, Maritz responded with steady baseline play to take the next two sets and the match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His comeback win continued a theme of resilience for the Spires and moved the team within reach of keeping the afternoon in favor of the good guys.

Kansas Wesleyan's lone point came at No. 4 singles, where Jittawait outlasted Priestley in a match tiebreak. After splitting the first two sets, 6-3, 0-6, Jittawait regrouped in the deciding breaker and prevailed to avoid the sweep and put the Coyotes on the board.

Koyuncu turned in one of the most dominant singles score lines of the day at No. 5, blanking Chavez 6-0 in the first set and closing out a 6-0, 6-4 win to add another point to the Spire total. At No. 6, Santiago Garcia capped the singles session with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory over Gomez Giraldo, giving the Spires five singles wins out of six and locking in the 6-1 team score.

The Spires' combination of strong pairings and reliable singles play provided a complete team effort as they look to carry this form into upcoming KCAC action. Tennis will continue competition on into Saturday, March 28^th with a conference match up on the road traveling to take on the Sterling College Warriors with matches set for 11:00 a.m.

USM men's tennis currently sits 9-3 overall and 6-0 in KCAC play, earning them the top spot in the conference standings.