Belmont 4, Samford 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University men’s tennis team competed in its first home match of the 2009 spring season Saturday and dropped a hard-fought 4-3 loss to the Belmont Bruins in a non-conference contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
In the defeat, Samford (1-7) won the doubles point and received singles victories from senior Richard Walsh and sophomore Oliver Reynolds.
Both Walsh and Reynolds disposed of their Belmont (4-3) counterparts in straight sets. Walsh, the Bulldogs’ native of Mobile, Ala., defeated the Bruins’ Renato Antun 7-6 (3), 3-1 on court No. 5, while Reynolds cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory in the No. 6 singles match.
In doubles play, Samford earned wins on courts No. 1 and No. 3 to take the opening point of the match.
The Bulldogs’ combination of Brian Dushock and Kelwin DeWet rallied for a 9-7 victory on court No. 1, while the duo of Walsh and Carson Kadi knocked off Belmont’s tandem of Javier Rodriguez and Rafael Matos 8-4 on court No. 3.
With Dushock and DeWet’s triumph in the No. 1 doubles matchup, Samford took an early 1-0 lead in the match by winning the doubles point.
Belmont overcame its early deficit and won the top four matches in singles play to win the overall match 4-3. With their victory, the Bruins tallied their second-straight win.
The Samford men’s tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon as the Bulldogs square off against the Davidson Wildcats in their inaugural Southern Conference match in school history. The historic contest will be held at Samford’s Tennis Center.
South Carolina 6, Appalachian State 1
COLUMBIA, S.C.- Appalachian State University men's tennis posted a valiant effort but no.43 South Carolina proved to be too much for the Apps Saturday afternoon, as ASU fell 6-1 to the Gamecocks. With the loss, ASU drops to 4-2 on the season while USC improves to 10-1, and keeps with their seven-match winning streak.
The afternoon got off to a tough start for the Black and Gold, as the Gamecocks swept through doubles play, taking the early 1-0 lead. At the number one doubles spot, Bobby Lake and Alain Humblet were outmatched and fell to Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado 8-2. Peter Jacobs and Trent Constance also fell at the number two spot, putting up a strong fight, but losing 8-5, while Lee Floyd and Phillip Kloc dropped to their opponents 8-2.T
Appalachian played solid in singles action, but only Mountaineer was able to notch a win.
At the number two singles spot, Trent Constance was unable to hang with Pedro Campos, falling in two sets 6-3, 6-2, to put the Gamecocks up 2-0.
In the most impressive match of the afternoon, Lake defeated no.97 Cubas at the number one singles spot, winning convincingly in two sets, 6-3, -6-2 to give the Mountaineers their lone point.
Despite strong play, Jacobs fell to Machado in two hotly contested sets, 6-4, 6-4 and Floyd also lost in a thriller, falling 7-6, 6-4.
ASU takes a short break, and then returns to action Friday March 6, for its first Southern Conference game of the 2009 campaign, as the Apps take on Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. at 2 p.m.