Iowa’s men’s tennis team got their first win of the season on Sunday, defeating Loyola Marymount, 5-2.

The Hawkeyes started off the meet by winning two out of three doubles matches against the Lions. The tandem of Garret Dunn and Michael Swank beat Loyola Marymount’s Sebastian Bustamante and Todd Volmari in a thrilling match. The score was tied at 3 until Swank and Dunn broke the Lion’s service.

“I think that was the turning point in the match, because anytime we get a break on somebody, it’s going to be demoralizing for them because they know it’s going to be tough to break us,” Swank said.

Ultimately, the Lions couldn’t break Dunn or Swank’s serve, and that proved to be the difference. The Black and Gold duo went on to win 5 of the last 7 points, leading to an 8-5 final.

Juniors Joey White and Juan Estenssoro won their doubles match 8-5. After being down 3-4 in the match they broke the Lion’s service to even up the set. After splitting the next two games White and Estenssoro each hit a backhand winner to make the score 7-5. The pair closed out the match by outlasting their opponents in a long rally.

Estenssoro went on to win his singles match as well. He made easy work of his opponent Volmari and beat him in straight sets (6-0, 6-1). He never looked challenged during the match as he coasted to a victory.

“Juan Estensorro played very well in doubles and exceptionally well in singles,” Iowa head coach Steve Houghton said. “This is his first weekend competing for us, and I thought he gave us every indication that he’s going to be as good of a player as we thought he would be when we recruited him.”

Overall, the Hawkeyes won four out of six singles matches. Dunn, Swank, and Jonas Dierckx were the three other victorious Hawkeyes.

Swank over powered his opponent and won in straight sets (6-1, 6-4). His serve proved to be too much to handle for the Lion’s Bustamante. Dierckx defeated Othar Kordsachia in straight sets (6-3, 6-3). He wore his opponent out by working him side-to-side and winning long rallies. The junior was able to outlast his opponent by making him commit numerous unforced errors.

The Hawkeye captain Dunn won a tough match against Loyola’s Felix Van Kann in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. Despite winning in straight sets, the match was far from easy. Dunn was challenged and had to overcome long rallies and a few forced errors.

The Hawkeyes played well on Sunday, and they hope to their momentum carries over into practice and Friday’s meet.

“We need to keep this level of intensity going and bring it into practice so that we can keep building on this win,” Dunn said. “Friday is going to be tough, because we have two matches in the same day.”