USC Upstate 6, Davidson 1

 

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to visiting USC Upstate on Saturday morning in a non-conference match at the Knobloch Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Davidson College.

Davidson, coming off a 5-2 win on Tuesday, fell to 2-5 overall, while USC Upstate moved its winning streak to three straight, improving to 5-2 on the year.

The Wildcats got off to a slow start as they went down several breaks at the No. 2 doubles with Walker Lyons and Brandon Byrd, as well as the No. 3 spot with Eric Noble and Carter Braxton. Both teams fell by the scores of 8-2 and 8-0.

In singles play, Walker Lyons battled Renzo Airaldi at the No. 1 position and had an opportunity to take the first set when up 5-4, but Airaldi used a few let-court winners and solid baseline strokes to win the set 7-5, and closed out the match with another close set, 6-4.

At the No. 2 singles position, Myers dropped the first set and was down 5-2 in the second, when he began a very suspenseful comeback to 5-5, where Edgar Rodriguez then needed the extra game to take the 7-5 decision.

Eric Noble return after missing the last two matches to force the first of two three-set matches for the Wildcats. After losing the first set with a large number of unforced errors, Noble regrouped and refocused himself leading him to victories in the next two sets, 6-2, 6-1, for the Wildcats?
only point on the afternoon.

Similarly, at the No. 4 spot, Calum Gee had a great comeback to win his second set 6-2 after losing the first, 6-3, but unfortunately came up short in the third, 6-3.

The last two Wildcats, Arie Hefter and Carter Braxton, both of which started the first set up, with Braxton holding a 2-1 lead and Hefter up 5-4. However, a string of unforced errors led to a disappointing 7-6 loss for Hefter, which carried over in a 6-1 second set defeat.

Braxton put out a solid effort and was a break short in each set, but the Spartans? Ramiro Bianco took a 6-4, 6-4 decision.

The Wildcats will next face Richmond Friday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. The Spiders are coached by Billy Boykin, a former Davidson assistant coach and graduate.

 

 

South Carolina 6, Elon 1

 

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? After dropping the doubles point, No. 51 South Carolina pulled out three-set victories in three singles matches to top Elon 6-1 in men’s tennis action Saturday afternoon at the University of South Carolina Field House. The Gamecocks improved to 7-1 on the season with its fourth consecutive triumph while the Phoenix dropped to 3-4 this spring with all four losses coming to nationally-ranked teams.

An Elon win would have marked a second victory in three years over South Carolina and a sixth win over a nationally-ranked foe at the NCAA Division I level in Phoenix men’s tennis history. In just the past three years, Elon has knocked off No. 69 Furman (5-2 in 2006), No. 37 South Carolina (4-1 in 2007), No. 55 Furman (5-2 in 2007), No. 57 College of Charleston (4-1 in 2007) and No. 71 Princeton (4-3 in 2008).

The Phoenix captured the doubles point when the No. 49 duo of Damon Gooch and Philip Nemec outlasted Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado 9-8 (8-6) at No. 1 and Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer MacDowell overcame Jaime Cuellar and Joe Veeder 8-6 at No. 3. The Gamecocks picked up a win at No. 2 when Pedro Campos and Ivan Cressoni staved off Chase Helpingstine and Oscar Podlewski 8-5.

South Carolina came back by winning all six of the singles bouts as Cuellar ousted Helpingstine 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3, No. 105 Machado upended Carlin Murray 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4, Campos rallied past No. 120 Podlewski 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 and Johannes Pulsfort decisioned Nemec 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5 to clinch the match. At No. 1, No. 42 Cubas outdueled Gooch 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2 while Cressoni topped Rojas 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6.
 
Elon will return home to the friendly confines of the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center when UNC Wilmington visits Phoenixland at 1 p.m. Sunday.

 

 

Appalachian State 4, East Carolina 3

 

GREENVILLE, N.C. - In a match that saw five singles matches go to three sets, Appalachian State University men's tennis was able to pull out a win as the Mountaineers defeated previously unbeaten East Carolina in a thriller, winning 4-3. With the victory, ASU remains undefeated on the season and improves to 3-0, while the Pirates drop to 4-1.

 

In doubles action the duo of Bobby Lake and Alain Humblet got the Apps off to a strong start, defeating their opponents 8-4 to notch an early win. The duo of Trent Constance and Peter Jacobs posted a valiant effort, but were defeated by Henrik Skalmerud and Aleksey Kochetov at the number two spot 8-6. Lee Floyd and Phillip Kloc also fell at the number three doubles spot, to give the Pirates the early 1-0 advantage.

 

Constance finished his match first at the number three singles spot, falling in hard fought contest 6-4, 7-5. Kloc earned the Mountaineers the next point in a thrilling fashion as he rallied a comeback over Kochetov. After falling 1-6 in the first set, Kloc won the next two 6-4 and 6-1.

 

Jacobs evened up the score at two a piece when he was victorious over Denis Ermilov, also capturing the win in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

 

Lake's impressive play at the number one spot put ASU ahead 3-2, as he also overcame and early defeat in the first set to win two straight sets.

 

At the number six spot, Humblet battled but lost in three sets to his competitor Bryan Oakley.

 

Floyd's performance at the number four spot led the Black and Gold to the win, as the senior came back after dropping the first set 3-6, to win 6-4, 6-4 and give Appalachian the 4-3 win.

 

The Mountaineers look to carry their momentum into their next match as they return home to take on Liberty, Friday February 20 at 1 p.m.