Box Scores: Men | Women
 
MADISON, N.J. (Feb. 27, 2016) – The Drew University men's and women's tennis teams each launched the 2016 spring campaign with matching 8-1 victories over rival FDU-Florham on Saturday in the Simon Forum and Athletic Complex.
 
The women move their 2015-16 overall record to 1-1, while the men won their opening dual match of the season by beating the Devils for the sixth time in as many years. The women also extended a streak against the Devils, winning four straight over the last five seasons.
 
Leading the women was freshman Ty Ty Nguyen, who was part of two victories on Saturday. She teamed up with junior Jessica Cheng to win 8-0 in first doubles and took on tough competition in the No. 2 singles spot, coming out on top with a straight set victory, 6-3, 6-4.
 
"Ty Ty played well in a challenging second singles position," said head coach Matthew Brisotti. "She looked comfortable with her game, and meshed well with Jess in a dominating doubles performance. It's great to see a younger player getting confident early in a season."
 
The Rangers swept singles play with Cheng, senior Katie Marshall, senior Kirby Clark, junior Megan Jarvis and sophomore Kathryn Swenor all winning their matches in straight sets. Swenor outlasted her sixth singles opponent in a first set tiebreaker, 7-4, before closing out the win with a 6-1 second set.
 
Marshall and Clark combined on an 8-2 win at second doubles as Drew took 2-of-3 from the Devils to begin the dual match in doubles play.
 
On the men's side, four freshmen made their collegiate dual match debuts, including Vineet Vemulapally. He teamed with senior Adam Clark for a gritty 8-5 win at first doubles, before taking on the difficult No. 1 singles match against the reigning MAC Rookie of the Year. After dropping the first set, 6-4, Vemulapally bounced back to take the next two, 6-4,6-4, for the win.
 
"Vineet looked great playing with an upperclassman in doubles, and even better against top competition in singles," Brisotti said. "It was a good way to get his career started."
 
Junior Nick Lantieri and Cole Leckburg gave Drew a 2-1 advantage coming out of doubles play with an 8-5 win in the third position. Clark breezed through his No. 2 singles match in straight sets, as did freshman Will Morrison by playing what Brisotti called "his most complete tennis of the year."
 
Lantieri bested his FDU-Florham foe in straight sets (6-4, 7-5). Drew got the singles sweep thanks to gutsy efforts by Vemulapally and freshmen Kevin Shulca and Chris Thompson, who all won their matches in three sets after dropping the first.
 
"It would have been easy for them to put their heads down, but they kept fighting," Brisotti said.
 
Shulca won the second set in a tiebreaker (8-6) and followed up by winning the superbreaker, 10-5. Thompson also won in a third set superbreaker, 10-5, after rebounding in the second set with a 6-4 win.
 
Up next, the Ranger men and women embark on a Spring Break trip to Hilton Head, S.C. for the PTR Spring TennisFest.