Wake Forest Athletics
Friday, February 13
Waco, Texas
7:30 p.m. (ET)
Wake Forest University
4
vs
0
(8) UC Santa Barbara
No. 1-Seed Demon Deacons Advance Past UC Santa Barbara
2/13/2026 10:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Wake Forest will now take on hosts Baylor in the second round tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
WACO, Texas – The No. 1-seeded Wake Forest men's tennis team opened its ITA Team Indoor Championship defense with a 4-0 sweep over UC Santa Barbara Friday evening inside the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
With the result, the Demon Deacons (7-1, 0-0 ACC) will now take on hosts Baylor tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. (CT) for a spot in the semifinals in Dallas. This will mark the fourth-consecutive year the two teams have met with Wake Forest winning the previous three. The Deacs and Bears are also scheduled to meet again in Winston-Salem on Feb. 22.
Also with the win, Wake Forest improved to 10-0 in Texas over the last two seasons, having won two national titles in the Lone Star State in 2025.
The Demon Deacons will be one of three ACC schools advancing to the second round as they look to become the first team in the conference to repeat as champions at the event since Virginia (2008-11).
For the fifth time this season, the Deacs set the tone with a dominant doubles point. Freshman Aryan Shah and sophomore Kacper Szymkowiak secured a win on court two as they teamed up and defeated No. 80 Liu/Avendano (6-2). It marked their first ranked win together as they moved to 3-1 this Spring.
On court three, junior Luca Pow and sophomore Charlie Robertson defeated Morais/Brunkow, 6-3. It marked the first win as a pair for the two Englishmen as they gave Wake Forest the 1-0 advantage.
Extending his team-lead to six singles wins this season, sophomore Joaquin Guilleme returned to the court and took down Conrad Brown in sixth singles, 6-3, 6-2. He is now an incredible 15-1 overall in collegiate dual matches.
Following up a stellar freshman campaign, Charlie Robertson has gotten off to a 2-0 start in his sophomore season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Charlie Underwood on court five. He has now won 12 of his last 14 collegiate decisions dating back to February of last year.
Two weeks removed from being named ACC Freshman of the Week, standout Mees Rottgering continued his impressive form with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Diogo Morais on court four. He is now 5-1 at the collegiate level and has not dropped a set in any of his five wins.
How It Happened
Singles Results
1. #21 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) vs. #79 Lucca Liu (UCSB) 6-4, 6-5, unfinished
2. Aryan Shah (WFU) vs. #31 Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 1-6, 4-4, unfinished
3. #14 Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Miguel Avendano Cadena (UCSB) 2-6, 5-3, unfinished
4. #102 Mees Rottgering (WFU) def. Diogo Morais (UCSB) 6-3, 6-3
5. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Charlie Underwood (UCSB) 6-2, 6-3
6. #89 Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Conrad Brown (UCSB) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 5, 4
Doubles Results
1. #3 Delgado/Suresh (WFU) vs. Brown/Rolland (UCSB) 5-4, unfinished
2. Szymkowiak/Shah (WFU) def. #80 Liu/Avendano (UCSB) 6-2
3. Pow/Robertson (WFU) def. Morais/Brunkow (UCSB) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
From Coach Bresky
"We feel good. The boys were ready to go. We were a little anxious to go, obviously, after a weekend off following our last loss. It felt like we came out with good energy. UCSB is a very good team, they beat UCLA on the way to get here. We had a lot of respect for them and we were very prepared. We're excited to get through and play the host team Baylor tomorrow, which will be a big challenge." - Head coach Tony Bresky
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
With the result, the Demon Deacons (7-1, 0-0 ACC) will now take on hosts Baylor tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. (CT) for a spot in the semifinals in Dallas. This will mark the fourth-consecutive year the two teams have met with Wake Forest winning the previous three. The Deacs and Bears are also scheduled to meet again in Winston-Salem on Feb. 22.
Also with the win, Wake Forest improved to 10-0 in Texas over the last two seasons, having won two national titles in the Lone Star State in 2025.
The Demon Deacons will be one of three ACC schools advancing to the second round as they look to become the first team in the conference to repeat as champions at the event since Virginia (2008-11).
For the fifth time this season, the Deacs set the tone with a dominant doubles point. Freshman Aryan Shah and sophomore Kacper Szymkowiak secured a win on court two as they teamed up and defeated No. 80 Liu/Avendano (6-2). It marked their first ranked win together as they moved to 3-1 this Spring.
On court three, junior Luca Pow and sophomore Charlie Robertson defeated Morais/Brunkow, 6-3. It marked the first win as a pair for the two Englishmen as they gave Wake Forest the 1-0 advantage.
Extending his team-lead to six singles wins this season, sophomore Joaquin Guilleme returned to the court and took down Conrad Brown in sixth singles, 6-3, 6-2. He is now an incredible 15-1 overall in collegiate dual matches.
Following up a stellar freshman campaign, Charlie Robertson has gotten off to a 2-0 start in his sophomore season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Charlie Underwood on court five. He has now won 12 of his last 14 collegiate decisions dating back to February of last year.
Two weeks removed from being named ACC Freshman of the Week, standout Mees Rottgering continued his impressive form with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Diogo Morais on court four. He is now 5-1 at the collegiate level and has not dropped a set in any of his five wins.
How It Happened
- 20 minutes into doubles, the Demon Deacons held breaks on courts two and three (4-2) while Suresh/Delgado sat even at 3-3 on one.
- Wake Forest quickly secured the doubles point behind dominant performances from Kacper Szymkowiak and Aryan Shah on court two, who defeated No. 80 Liu/Avendano, 6-2, before Luca Pow and Charlie Robertson followed with a 6-3 victory on court three to give the Deacs a 1-0 lead.
- Carrying that momentum into singles, Robertson wasted no time extending the advantage, cruising to a 6-2 opening set on court five, while Joaquin Guilleme soon followed with a 6-3 first-set win on court six.
- Mees Rottgering and Suresh continued the strong start for Wake Forest, each earning first-set victories to put the Demon Deacons in control across the majority of courts.
- Guilleme was first to finish, delivering a composed 6-3, 6-2 win on court six to extend the lead to 2-0.
- Robertson soon followed, maintaining control throughout his match and securing a 6-2, 6-3 victory on court five to bring Wake Forest within one point of clinching.
- Rottgering ultimately delivered the clincher on court four, defeating Diogo Morais, 6-3, 6-3, to complete the 4-0 sweep and send the Demon Deacons into the second round.
Singles Results
1. #21 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) vs. #79 Lucca Liu (UCSB) 6-4, 6-5, unfinished
2. Aryan Shah (WFU) vs. #31 Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 1-6, 4-4, unfinished
3. #14 Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Miguel Avendano Cadena (UCSB) 2-6, 5-3, unfinished
4. #102 Mees Rottgering (WFU) def. Diogo Morais (UCSB) 6-3, 6-3
5. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Charlie Underwood (UCSB) 6-2, 6-3
6. #89 Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Conrad Brown (UCSB) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 5, 4
Doubles Results
1. #3 Delgado/Suresh (WFU) vs. Brown/Rolland (UCSB) 5-4, unfinished
2. Szymkowiak/Shah (WFU) def. #80 Liu/Avendano (UCSB) 6-2
3. Pow/Robertson (WFU) def. Morais/Brunkow (UCSB) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
From Coach Bresky
"We feel good. The boys were ready to go. We were a little anxious to go, obviously, after a weekend off following our last loss. It felt like we came out with good energy. UCSB is a very good team, they beat UCLA on the way to get here. We had a lot of respect for them and we were very prepared. We're excited to get through and play the host team Baylor tomorrow, which will be a big challenge." - Head coach Tony Bresky
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
123
Lucca Liu / 0 (79/-) [UCSB-M]
45UF
66UF
#2 Singles Match
123
Dominique Rolland / 0 (31/-) [UCSB-M]
64UF
14UF
#3 Singles Match
123
Miguel Avendano / 0 [UCSB-M]
63UF
25UF
#4 Singles Match
12
Diogo Morais / 0 [UCSB-M]
33
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Charlie Underwood / 0 [UCSB-M]
23
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Conrad Brown / 0 [UCSB-M]
32
66
Order of Finish:
6,5,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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