Appalachian State 4, UNC Greensboro 3
BOONE, N.C.- The Appalachian State men's tennis team notched an impressive win over conference foe UNCG Saturday afternoon at the Bob Light tennis courts. The Apps defeated the Spartans 4-3, giving ASU its first conference win of the season. With the victory, Appalachian improves to 6-5 on the season and 1-1 in SoCon action, while UNCG drops to 2-12 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
The match got off to a rocky start as no Mountaineers were able to pick up wins in doubles play.
At the No. 1 doubles position, the duo of Bobby Lake and Trent Constance fell to their opponents, losing 8-6. At the No. 2 spot, Ryan Brookshaw and Lee Floyd struggled as well, falling 8-2. Capping off doubles play, the team of Peter Jacobs and David Doverspike lost 8-5.
ASU was able to get back on track in singles play, as four out of six Mountaineers grabbed wins.
At the No.1 spot, Lake put up a solid effort, but was not able to finish with the desired result as he lost to Andrey Bubnov in two sets, falling 7-6 and 6-2. Brookshaw was soild for Appalachian at the No.2 singles position, as he defeated his opponent 7-6 and 6-1.
Both Constance and Floyd posted impressive performances on the afternoon as each were victorious over their competition, both winning in two sets.
Rounding out the match, Jacobs easily defeated his opponent at the No. 5 singles spot, winning 6-2 and 6-1, while Doverspike lost 8-5.
ASU has little time to rest, as the Mountaineers travel to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern. The match is set for Sunday March 23 at 1 p.m.
Elon 2, Wake Forest 5
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? No. 29 Wake Forest slipped past No. 74 Elon for the doubles point and then held on to claim four singles bouts, surviving for a 5-2 non-conference men’s tennis win Saturday afternoon at Leighton Tennis Stadium.
The Phoenix (10-6) earned a victory at No. 1 doubles when Damon Gooch and Philip Nemec dispatched Marius Adamski and Jason Morgenstern 8-1, but the Demon Deacons (11-6) pulled out wins at No. 2 (Cory Parr and Jon Wolff over Mason Schermerhorn and Alberto Rojas 9-7) and No. 3 (Charles Sartor and Andrew Brasseaux over Chase Helpingstine and Oscar Podlewski 8-5) to seize the doubles point.
Morgenstern then turned back Rojas 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles to extend the Wake Forest edge to 2-0. The Demon Deacons fattened their lead to 3-0 when Adamski overcame Schermerhorn 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 at No. 3 and iced the victory when Brasseaux staved off Helpingstine 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 5. Wake scored one last time when No. 59 Parr rallied past Gooch 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1.
Elon reeled off the contest’s final two points when Podlewski came back to beat Wolff 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 at No. 2 and Nemec knocked off Carlos Salmon 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6.
Davidson 5, Chattanooga 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? The Davidson men's tennis team continued its strong play at home by running its home record to 6-1 when the Wildcats earned a 5-2 Southern Conference win over visiting Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon at Covington Tennis Courts.
The Wildcats ran their overall record to 9-4 and their league mark to 3-1 as Davidson won for the third time in the past four matches. The 'Cats avenged a 5-2 loss to the Mocs last year on the road. UTC fell to 10-5 on the year and 1-3 in SoCon play.
Missing its No. 2 player, junior Ethan Jaffee (Indianapolis, Ind.), Davidson never missed a beat as it opened the match with wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles to score the first team point. The sophomore duo of Eric Noble (Fayetteville, N.C.) and Sam Burns (Banner Elk, N.C.) won their second straight as a team with an 8-4 win at No. 1.
Senior Flaviu Simihaian (Nasaud, Romania) and junior Scott Myers (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led the way in singles action as Davidson took wins at No. 1, 4, 5 and 6 to score the 5-2 win.
After both Simihaian and Myers sealed the doubles point with a win at No. 3, each player came through with singles wins at No.1 and 5. Simihaian regrouped after a first-set loss (6-2) to take 6-4, 6-4 wins in the next two sets.
Myers added his team-leading 11th singles win by not give up a single game in taking home his fourth straight win at No. 5.
Freshman Arie Hefter (Birmingham, Ala.), playing in his third collegiate match, and scored a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 6 over Hasan Hamadeh for his second career singles wins.
Fellow freshman Walker Lyons (Wallingford, Pa.) capped off the match by earning his third win in the past four matches with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Robert Diamond at No. 4. Lyons sits at 8-5 on th year and 2-2 in SoCon matches.
Davidson remains at home when it hosts Coastal Carolina on Mar. 25 at 2:30 p.m.
Davidson 5, Chattanooga 2
Singles competition
1. Flaviu Simihaian (DAV) def. Peter Sauska (UTC) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. Badr Bouabdellah (UTC) def. Eric Noble (DAV) 6-4, 6-3
3. Pavel Vostrikov (UTC) def. Sam Burns (DAV) 7-5, 4-6, 10-5
4. Walker Lyons (DAV) def. Robert Diamond (UTC) 7-5, 6-0
5. Scott Myers (DAV) def. Gordon Rudell (UTC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Arie Hefter (DAV) def. Hasan Hamadeh (UTC) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Eric Noble/Sam Burns (DAV) def. Badr Bouabdellah/Pavel Vostrikov (UTC) 8-4
2. Peter Sauska/Hasan Hamadeh (UTC) def. Phillip Compeau/Walker Lyons (DAV) 8-5
3. Flaviu Simihaian/Scott Myers (DAV) def. Robert Diamond/Tyler Pullen (UTC) 8-2
Georgia Southern 5, Appalachian State 2
STATESBORO, Ga. ? In a five hour battle at the Hanner Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon, the Georgia Southern men’s tennis team downed Appalachian State with a 5-2 decision as the Eagles captured their third conference victory of the season.
Georgia Southern (7-8 overall, 3-2 SoCon) swept Appalachian State (6-6 overall, 1-2 SoCon) in doubles action, earning the team point heading into singles action. Senior Emmanuel Nkoueleue and sophomore Borja Malet pulled out a victory at the one seed over Bobby Lake and Trent Constance in a tiebreak, 9-8 (7). Joris De Weerdt and Matthew Sands found their niche as they downed Ryan Brookshaw and Lee Floyd, 8-6. Cruising past their opponents at the three seed were Gregory Bekkers and Philip Prins, who ousted Peter Jacobs and Britton Webb, 8-4.
Four singles wins helped secure Georgia Southern’s seventh victory of the season. Wins from Nkoueleue at the one seed and De Weerdt at the two seed helped give the Eagles a 3-2 advantage over the Mountaineers. Clinching the match for Georgia Southern at the three seed was Borja Malet, the Barcelona, Spain sophomore. Malet took the first set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (7), dropped the second and found himself up in the third, 5-4. Trying to serve out the match, the Eagle went up 40-0, but Trent Constance put up a fight and battled back, pushing the tenth game into a deuce. Malet captured the win, 6-4, securing the match for the Eagles at 4-2.
Last off the court was sophomore Gregory Bekkers who also went into three sets. Bekkers took the first set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (4), dropped the second and won the third in another tiebreak, 7-6 (3).
“It was a hard-fought match,” said head coach Justin Miles. “I saw a tremendous improvement from our players who went into three set matches today. We struggled with three set matches in California, but today we came out on top.”
Georgia Southern hits the road next for three conference matches. The Eagles take on UNC Greensboro first on March 29. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
Georgia Southern 5, Appalachian State 2
Doubles:
1. Borja Malet/Emmanuel Nkoueleue (GSU) d. Bobby Lake/Trent Constance (ASU) 9-8(7)
2. Joris De Weerdt/Matthew Sands (GSU) d. Ryan Brookshaw/Lee Floyd (ASU) 8-6
3. Gregory Bekkers/Philip Prins (GSU) d. Peter Jacobs/Britton Webb (ASU) 8-4
Singles:
1. Emmanuel Nkoueleue (GSU) d. Ryan Brookshaw (ASU) 7-5, 6-2
2. Joris De Weerdt (GSU) d. Bobby Lake (ASU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. Borja Malet (GSU) d. Trent Constance (ASU) 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-4 *
4. Gregory Bekkers (GSU) d. Lee Floyd (ASU) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6(3)
5. Peter Jacobs (ASU) d. Matthew Sands (GSU) 6-3, 6-1
6. David Doverspike (ASU) d. Philip Prins (GSU) 7-6 (5), 6-3
* Clinched the match