MIAMISBURG, Ohio – The University of Dayton men's tennis team picked up a win over Xavier in the home opener for the Flyers. Senior Will Harper clinched the match for the Flyers, coming back to win in No. 5 singles after dropping the first set.
 
Dayton improves to 1-3 on the young season with the win, extending UD's home winning streak to 13 consecutive matches. Xavier falls to 0-2 in 2022.
 
The Flyers opened the match by taking the doubles point behind wins from juniors Connor Bruce and Matt DeMarco on Court Two and junior Georgi Mavrodiev and sophomore Ronit Hiryur in No. 3 doubles.
 
Matt DeMarco carried that momentum into singles play, taking down Xavier's Charlie Temming in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Eric Perkowski won his second-straight match as well, battling back in No. 6 singles after falling behind 5-2 in the first set against Marco Pennelli to win 7-6 and taking set two 6-1 to put the Flyers up 3-0.
 
Xavier took the next three points, with Bruce, Hiryur, and senior Steven Karl dropping close matches in the top three singles flights, leaving the match up to Harper on Court Five.
 
The Dayton captain fell behind by a set against Cambell Nakayama, but took the second frame 6-2 to set up the match-deciding third set. Harper again had to battle after falling behind in set three, but came through for the Flyers to win their first match of 2022.
 
It marked the 31^st career singles victory for Harper, putting him into a tie for 25^th in program history with P.J. Miller, who played at Dayton from 1999-2002.
 
The Flyers will return to action on Sunday with a doubleheader against Thomas More. The first match is set to start at 1 p.m. at South Regency Tennis Center in Miamisburg.