Appalachian State 4, Davidson 3

BOONE, N.C. ? The Mountaineers extended their winning streak to four matches and clinched the No. 7 seed in the Southern Conference Championships as the Appalachian State University men’s tennis team defeated Davidson College, 4-3, in SoCon play Tuesday at the ASU Stadium Tennis Courts.

With the win the Mountaineers end the regular season with an 11-9 overall record and 3-6 SoCon mark, finishing seventh in the conference. The Wildcats drop to 9-11 on the season and 2-7 in the SoCon, clinching the No. 8 seed at the championships.

Senior Andrew Waters (Durban, South Africa) came through on ?Senior Day,’ winning at No. 4 singles while teaming up with junior Dimitar Dimitrov (Sofia, Bulgaria) for a victory at No. 2 doubles.

Sophomore Robert Hogewood (Greensboro, N.C.) came through in the clutch once again for ASU, clinching the match at No. 5 singles. Last week’s SoCon player of the week, Hogewood also picked up a victory at No. 3 doubles along with junior Alex Probst (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). The duo is now a perfect 4-0 on the season.

Dimitrov and Waters started the match off defeating Joe Cheaney and Phillip Compeau, 8-4 at the No. 2 position. Davidson evened the doubles competition at 1-1 as Ethan Jaffee and Flaviu Simihaian defeated Andrew Taylor (Parkland, Fla.) and Ryan Brookshaw (Pretoria, South Africa), 8-5, at the No. 1 spot.

With the doubles point on the line, Probst and Hogewood defeated Daniel Bermeo and Matt Hartman, 8-4, at No. 3 to clinch the point for ASU.

Waters once again took the match into his hands as he gave Appalachian a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Scott Myers at No. 4 singles. Davidson cut the lead to 2-1 as Bermeo took care of Brookshaw, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 2 position. Dimitrov extended the home team’s lead back to two points at 3-1, defeating Jaffee, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3.

The Wildcats pulled back within one at 3-2 as Simihaian defeated Probst, 7-5, 6-2, at the first flight. Needing just one match to win, Hogewood defeated Hartman, 7-6, 6-4 at the No. 6 spot to clinch the match for the Mountaineers.

Davidson’s Jay Chitty went on to defeat Taylor in a hard fought 7-6, 7-6 match at the No. 5 position.

The Mountaineers next compete as they head to Charleston, S.C. for the Southern Conference Championships hosted by The Citadel at the Farmfield and Earle Tennis Centers. First up, the No. 7 Mountaineers take on No. 10 UNC Greensboro at noon.