WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's tennis team bested the visiting Geneva Golden Tornadoes in a 6-1 match in each team's Presidents' Athletic Conference opener.
 
W&J improves 3-6 on the year while moving to 1-0 in PAC play. Geneva slides to 2-5 on the year with a 0-1 mark in conference matches.
 
W&J got on the stat sheet first, collecting the lone doubles team point to take a 1-0 lead. Nate Clarke (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) and Alex Duing (South Park, Pa./South Park) nabbed a close 7-5 victory at No. 2 doubles. Abhinav Yarramaneni (Mountain View, Calif./Los Altos) and Srivatsa Bellamkonda (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) secured the team point for W&J with a convincing 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles.
 
Bellamkonda and Aarav Surapaneni (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area) kicked off the wins for W&J in singles play. Bellamkonda collected a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles while Surapaneni won a 6-4, 6-1 match at No. 6 singles to put the Presidents up 3-0.
 
Following a loss at the top singles slot, Yarramaneni and Duing rebounded with victories. Yarramaneni took a win at No. 3 singles with a 6-3 first-set win and second-set tiebreaker victory 7-6 (7-0). Duing bested his opponent at No. 4 singles in a first set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-2) and a 6-1 second set win.
 
Jackson Akers (Logan, W. Va./Logan) capped the night for the Presidents with a back-and-forth win at No. 2 singles under the lights. Swapping first and second sets 6-2 and 4-6, Akers bounced back with a 6-4 victory in the third set.
 
W&J returns to action next Monday (March 24), on the road against the Westminster Titans. First serve is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.