Marquette’s men’s tennis team defeated Cleveland State Sunday at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium 5-2. The victory was Marquette’s tenth in a row.

“It was a battle,” coach Steve Rodecap said. “We knew we would be in for a fight. The guys took the doubles point which I thought really helped. But it’s one day at a time.  There’s a lot  of work to do as a team and individually.”

Senior Mark Rutherford passed Brett Binkley for most career doubles victories with 95. His 8-3 doubles victory with sophomore Jonathan Schwerin allowed him to achieve the historic landmark. Binkley/Rutherford teamed up for 49 total wins, the most by any duo in school history.

Senior Dusan Medan and freshman Jacob Straus continued their great partnership defeating their opponents 8-5 in doubles. However, freshman Jose Carlos Gutierrez Crowley and senior Niko Boulieris failed to follow their teammates, falling 4-8.

Singles was difficult for the Golden Eagles. The team dropped two sets, one from Medan who went down hard 0-6, 2-6 and Crowley who lost each set 4-6.

“We are all happy because it was a good win. It was probably our hardest victory of the season,” Medan said. “I wasn’t prepared. I wasn’t in the match mentally. The (opponent) played really well. He didn’t make any mistakes.”

However, victories from Straus, Boulieris, Rutherford, and a hard-fought marathon from freshman Otavio Perim who won 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 was enough to seal the team’s tenth straight.

“It’s been a long weekend but to finish off like that is great,” Perim said. “I felt like we were going to pull through … the team pushed me forward and that really helped a lot.”