Furman 5, Appalachian State 2
BOONE, N.C. ? The Furman men’s tennis team began the trek to defend its Southern Conference title, opening league play with a 5-2 win over Appalachian State on Wednesday afternoon. The Paladins (10-7, 1-0) have won 13 consecutive regular-season conference matches, dating back to the 2007 season. Appalachian State dropped to 9-5 on the season, 1-3 in the SoCon.
The match opened with a fight for the hotly contested doubles point. Furman managed wins in two of the three matches to earn the overall team point. Mountaineer duo Trent Constance and Peter Jacobs posted a 9-7 victory over Furman’s Chris Motes and Chris Rhyne at number two.
Furman evened things up as Jordan Walters and Andrei Chvetsov knocked off Britton Webb and Phillip Kloc at number three. Needing a victory at the top position, No. 67 Andy Juc and Bo Ladyman topped Bobby Lake and Lee Floyd to give Furman the 1-0 match advantage.
The Paladins quickly increased their advantage with singles wins at number one and two. Juc topped Lake, 6-2, 6-2 and Ladyman followed suit with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Constance. Appalachian clawed back, posting victories at the number four and five positions. Paladin senior Daniel Knause managed to clinch the match with a three-set win against Peter Jacobs at number three.
Furman will return to its home court for the first time since the end of February when it hosts Davidson on Saturday, March 21 at 2 p.m.
College of Charleston 7, Lafayette 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's tennis team won every match, including a 6-1, 6-0 win by Lukas Koncilia at number one singles, to take the 7-0 win over Lafayette this afternoon at the tennis center at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The College of Charleston improves to 5-6 overall, while Lafayette drops to 3-4.
Mickael Boyer, Mickael Trintignac, Joe Nicolazzi, Victor Wibreus and Bo Crouch all picked up wins in singles play for the 7-0 sweep.
The Cougars visit Wofford Friday, Mar. 20 for a 10:00 a.m. match
Tennessee Tech 7, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? The Chattanooga men’s tennis team was swept by Tennessee Tech, 7-0, Wednesday afternoon. Seniors Peter Sauska and Pavel Vostrikov defeated Josh Girling and Dean O’Brien 9-8 (7-4) in doubles play for the Mocs’ lone win.
Rick van de Bovenkamp stretched his match to three sets, but fell to Oscar Pachon at No. 5 by a score of 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.
The Mocs return to the court Wednesday, March 25 when they travel to face the Furman Paladins in a Southern Conference match.
UAB 5, Georgia Southern 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? UAB took the early lead securing the doubles point and never looked back as the Georgia Southern men’s tennis team dropped a close 5-2 decision to the Blazers Wednesday afternoon (March 18). The non-conference loss dropped the Eagles to 5-5 overall this season, while UAB improved to 7-6.
UAB jumped out in the lead winning two of three doubles matches to secure the team point. Justin Flynn and Jayraj Jadeja secured Georgia Southern’s lone doubles win at the Brook Highland Racquet Club. The junior Eagle tandem outlasted Alex Emery and Brian Ly, 8-5 from the two position.
Georgia Southern could not hold off UAB as the Blazers took four of six singles matches. Thomas Petrich clinched the match for UAB at the five seed.
Jadeja went undefeated in play this afternoon taking his singles win, along with fellow teammate Joris De Weerdt. Jadeja posted a three-set victory over Ly at the No. 3 court, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, while De Weerdt recorded his seventh dual match win at the one seed this season. The senior upended Dan Cornei, 6-2, 6-4 for the Eagles’ second team point.
Georgia Southern will look to rebound from this road trip returning to conference play this weekend with visits to Wofford and Furman. First serve in Spartanburg, S.C. is slated for noon against Wofford on Saturday, March 21.