Air Force Academy

The Air Force men's tennis team won a pair of home matches on Friday, defeating Northern Arizona, 5-2, and South Dakota State, 7-0. The Falcons improved to 3-2 this season and head coach Rich Gugat inched closer to his 700th career victory. Gugat is now 693-210 in his 31-plus years at the Academy.

In the morning match against NAU, Air Force jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by capturing all three doubles matches. Seniors Shannon Buck and Trevor Johnson, who both missed last weekend's match vs. Montana State, won at No. 1 doubles, defeating Brian Grooms and Casey Ross, 8-5. Juniors Justin Lau and Keith Cronican clinched the point with an 8-6 decision over Jeff Morys and Christian Tenev.

In singles action, Air Force cruised through the top four matches. Buck started it off with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Gareth Ducray at the No. 1 spot. Johnson followed suit with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Morys at No. 2, while Lau easily handled Grooms at No. 3, 6-1, 6-4. Junior Robby Alexander defeated Tenev, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 4 position.

In the afternoon match against South Dakota State, the Falcons rolled from the start, and many Air Force players saw the first varsity action of their career. Juniors Mike Clawson and Bjorn Langefeld each played his first doubles match and combined to win the No. 3 contest, 8-1, over Ben Scholtz and Johnathan Thie. Freshman Grant Keaton saw his first action as well, pairing with Buck to win at No. 1 doubles, 8-3, while Sophomores Harrison Maloy and Kenneth Cotter won the No. 2 match.

Air Force then captured all six singles matches in straight sets, including Buck's 6-0, 6-0 blanking of Zack Lunak at the No. 1 spot. Freshman Kyle Epperson and Ryan Clissett posted their first wins as Falcons, Epperson beating Scholtz, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5, and Clissett defeating Thie, 7-6, 6-1 at No. 6.

The Falcons are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 11, when they host Idaho State beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Air Force 5, Northern Arizona 2

Singles
1. Shannon Buck (AFA) def. Gareth Ducray - 6-0, 6-1
2. Trevor Johnson (AFA) def. Jeff Morys - 6-3, 6-2
3. Justin Lau (AFA) def. Brian Grooms - 6-1, 6-4
4. Robby Alexander (AFA) def. Christian Tenev - 6-3, 6-0
5. Casey Ross (NAU) def. Keith Cronican -- 6-4, 4-6, (10-8)
6. Trent Hayward (NAU) def. Greg Ferry -- 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Buck/Johnson (AFA) def. Grooms/Ross - 8-5
2. Lau/Cronican (AFA) def. Morys/Tenev -- 8-6
3. Alexander/Ryan White (AFA) def. Ducray/Hayward -- 9-7

Air Force 7, South Dakota State 0

Singles
1. Shannon Buck (AFA) def. Zack Lunak - 6-0, 6-0
2. Justin Lau (AFA) def. Ihab Halaweish - 6-2, 6-0
3. Robby Alexander (AFA) def. Matt Gill - 6-0, 6-0
4. Ryan White (AFA) def. Dusty Antoine -- 6-1, 6-1
5. Kyle Epperson (AFA) def. Ben Scholtz -- 6-0, 6-0
6. Ryan Clisset (AFA) def. Jonathan Thie -- 7-6(6), 6-1
Doubles
1. Buck/Grant Keaton (AFA) def. Lunak/Halaweish - 8-3
2. Harrison Maloy/Kenneth Cotter (AFA) def. Gill/Antoine -- 8-4
3. Mike Clawson/Bjorn Langefeld (AFA) def. Scholtz/Thie -- 8-1