Samford 4, New Orleans 3
NEW ORLEANS, La. --- The Samford University men’s tennis team picked up a hard-fought 4-3 road win against the University of New Orleans (UNO) Privateers on Friday as the Bulldogs earned the doubles point and received singles victories from Carson Kadi, Carl Abalos and Oliver Reynolds.
With the triumph, Samford (1-5) tallied its first dual-match win of the 2009 spring season and opened its weekend road trip with a pivotal non-conference victory. The Bulldogs will square off against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Saturday at noon.
UNO (6-4), which was the 75th-ranked team in the nation just two days ago, dropped its fourth-straight match and lost its second-consecutive home game. The Privateers opened the 2009 campaign with six-straight victories against No. 59 South Alabama, Southern, Grambling, Alcorn State, Texas-Dallas and UT Arlington.
Friday’s contest against UNO came down to the final singles match.
With the score deadlocked at 3-3, the attention shifted to the No. 3 singles court where Samford's Kadi rallied from a set down to defeat UNO’s Ben Smith 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. The victory sealed the Bulldogs’ win and Kadi improved his team-leading singles record to 4-2 this season.
Besides the victory by Kadi, Samford picked up wins at court No. 4 by Abalos and at No. 6 by Reynolds.
The Bulldogs’ Abalos defeated Guilherme Rebolo, 6-3, 6-4, and then Reynolds knocked off Oliver Cuthill, 6-3, 6-2. The loss for Cuthill was his first in six matches at No. 6.
In doubles play, Samford won on courts No. 1 and No. 2 to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
On court No. 1, the Bulldogs’ Brian Dushock and Kelwin DeWet defeated the Privateers’ combination of Calvin Kemp and Rebolo, 9-8 (6), while Reynolds and Abalos knocked off UNO’s Cuthill and Smith 8-5 on court No. 2.
The Samford University men’s tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon as the Bulldogs continue their weekend road trip against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in Hammond, La.
Appalachian State 7, Libery 0
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University men's tennis continued with their dominant play Friday afternoon, as the Mountaineers earned their fourth win of the season, defeating Liberty University 7-0 at Yonahlossee Raquet Club. The Apps now improve to an impressive 4-0 on the season, while the Flames drop to 4-3.
The Black and Gold started out strong on the afternoon as they won the crucial doubles point, winning two out of the three matches.
Peter Jacobs and Trent Constance defeated their opponent 8-2 at the number two spot, while Phillip Kloc and Lee Floyd were victorious as well winning 8-4. Bobby Lake and Alain Humblet dropped to their competition at the number one singles spot, falling 8-5.
The loss in doubles would be Appalachian's lone of the afternoon, as the Apps swept all matches in single play.
Constance was the first winner at the number three position, winning 6-3, 6-4, while Jacobs picked up the Mountaineers next win, also winning in two sets.
Lake and Humblet defeated their opponents 7-6, 7-5 and 6-1, 6-3 and Kloc and Floyd were victorious as well on the afternoon.
The Apps have a quick turn around, as they face USC Upstate Saturday at 11 a.m.
Florida State 7, Furman 0
TALLAHASSE, Fla. ? The Furman men's tennis team faced its fourth ranked opponent of the season, falling 7-0 to the No. 16 Florida State Seminoles at Scott Speicher Tennis Center on Friday afternoon. The Paladins dropped to 4-4 on the season while FSU improved to 8-4 overall.
Furman's lone win of the day came in doubles action. Senior Andy Juc and junior Chris Motes teamed up for an 8-6 victory over Maciek Sykut and Drew Bailey at the top position. The Paladins competed hard in the two remaining doubles bouts, but the Seminoles earned wins at number two and three to take the first point of the day.
The Paladins took three singles matches to three sets. Juc nearly pulled off the upset at number one singles before No. 19 Jean-Yves Aubone pulled out the 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory. At number three, senior Daniel Knause stretched the match to three sets, but fell 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to Sykut. Motes battled from a set down to force a third set, but Florida State's Chris Cloer earned the 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win at number five.
Furman will battle No. 27 Rice tomorrow at noon at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center.
Coastal Carolina 5, The Citadel 2
CONWAY, S.C. ? The Citadel tennis team earned the doubles point but loss, 5-2 to the undefeated Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Friday, Feb. 20 at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.
This is the second time this season that the Bulldogs have dominated doubles competition. In doubles one, The Citadel’s Yufo Sutantio and Michael Kociecki defeated the Chanticleers’ #68 German Perez and Ernesto Ramos, 8-6. Martin King and Josh Cook fell 8-1 but the Bulldogs bounced back when Alberto Diaz and Derek Dickey battled in a challenging set, beating Coastal Carolina’s John Hairston and Joseph Withers, 9-7. The Citadel forced the Chanticleers to drop their first doubles point this season.
In singles play, it was a difficult rally for both teams as three matches ended in three sets. Sutantio earned the Bulldogs’ only point, defeating Coastal Carolina’s Ramos, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. The Chanticleers improve to 8-0, 1-0 Big South and the Bulldogs fall 1-2, 0-0 SoCon.
Coming up next, The Citadel will host the first meeting with the Lee’s McRae Bobcats on Sunday, Feb. 22 at noon at the Earle Tennis Center on The Citadel’s campus.