Furman 6, Yale 1
NEW HAVEN, Conn. ? Furman men’s tennis coach Paul Scarpa surpassed a milestone on Friday afternoon, becoming the sport’s winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with his 820th victory. The Paladins defeated Yale, 6-1, at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center to give the coach of 45 years the all-time mark.
“This record is a great thing for our team and all the players who have been part of this program,” said Scapa. “I am happy because it makes all those who have gone to Furman, tennis players or not, proud to be a part of history. Most of all, I’m glad we won. This was not an easy match but we played very hard. Yale is a great place to play with a tremendous tennis heritage.”
Scarpa surpassed former University of Hawaii coach Jim Schwitters to take over the record. His 820 victories include 254 in the Southern Conference, where the Paladins have had 40 consecutive winning seasons.
The Paladins improved to 7-6 on the year with their win over the Bulldogs (5-3). Furman won all three doubles matches to take the team doubles point. At number one doubles, Andy Juc and Chris Motes rebounded from a 7-2 deficit to win the match, 9-7, against Michael Caldwell and Calvin Bennett. Bo Ladyman and Jordan Walters improved to 7-3 on the season with an 8-5 win over Erik Blumenkranz and Jeff Dawson at number two. At the third position, Andrei Chvetsov and Chris Rhyne were victorious over Josh Lederman and Joel Samaha, 8-4.
In singles action, freshman Philipp Fuelkell increased the Paladin advantage with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Connor Dawson at number three. Sophomore Sawyer Duncan put Furman up 3-0 with his straight set victory against Blumenkranz at number six. Ladyman clinched the match, securing the Scarpa record, with his 7-6, 6-4 win against Caldwell at number two. Juc and Daniel Knause also picked up singles victories.
Furman will be back in action tomorrow at Princeton. The match is slated to begin at noon.
Wofford 6, UNC Asheville 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's tennis team picked up its fourth victory of the year on Thursday afternoon at the Reeves Tennis Center as they defeated the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville 6-1. The Terriers improve to 4-7 overall while Bulldogs fall to 1-8.
In doubles action, the Terriers were unable to run away with any match as all three went down to the final service games. Scott Collins and Elliott Farmer won at No. 3 by an 8-6 margin while Danny Manlow and Stuart Robertson won at No. 1 9-7. Paul Bartholomy and Alan Donald lost in a tough match at No. 2 falling in a tiebreaker 9-8. However, the Terriers picked up the lone doubles point with the wins on courts one and three giving them a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Wofford would continue to pick up tough wins in singles play as they secured five victories out of six. Manlow had an up and down match on court No. 3 as he prevailed 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. Senior Captain Scott Collins also had to go to three sets to become victorious and he did winning at No. 2 over Mauricio Correa 6-4, 5-7, 1-0( 10-6). The Remaining three Terriers wins were picked up in straight sets by Donald, Robertson and Michael Schecter who won 6-0, 6-0.
The Terriers return to the courts on Sunday as they host Lipscomb at 10 a.m. and Gardner-Webb at 2:30 p.m at the Reeves Tennis Center.
Elon 6, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? No. 56 Damon Gooch, Oscar Podlewski, Philip Nemec, Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas all posted singles wins and Gooch, Nemec, Helpingstine and Carlin Murray all emerged victorious from doubles action, pacing No. 75 Elon to a 6-1 Southern Conference men’s tennis triumph over Samford Friday afternoon at the Samford Tennis Center.
The No. 40 tandem of Gooch and Nemec staved off Brian Dushock and Kelwin and DeWet 8-5 at No. 1 while Helpingstine and Murray outlasted Oliver Reynolds and Carl Abalos 8-6 at No. 2 as the Phoenix (6-4 overall, 1-0 SoCon) seized the doubles point en route to claiming its fifth victory in six matches, including its third win in a row. Carson Kadi and Richard Walsh edged Rojas and Cody Stauffer MacDowell 8-6 at No. 3 doubles to pick up a victory for the Bulldogs (2-8 overall, 1-1 SoCon).
Gooch (over Dushock 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1), Podlewski (over DeWet 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2), Nemec (over Abalos 7-5, 6-0 at No. 4), Helpingstine (over Walsh 6-0, 5-7, 10-6 at No. 5) and Rojas (over Reynolds 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 6) all won in singles play as did Samford’s Kadi (over Murray 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 at No. 3). The contest marked Elon’s first-ever meeting with SoCon newcomer Samford.
The Phoenix improved to 25-3 in its last 28 regular season conference matches, dating back to the 2006 campaign. Elon will face its second SoCon opponent in as many days when it stops by Chattanooga at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs host SoCon foe UNC Greensboro at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Samford Tennis Center.
UNC Greensboro 4, George Washington 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Orcun Seyrek rallied for a three-set win at No. 1 singles to lock-up UNC Greensboro’s 4-3 win over George Washington in men’s tennis action Friday afternoon.
Seyrek topped Ugur Atalav, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 to clinch the victory as UNCG moved to 4-2 on the spring season. Seyrek moved to 10-3 on the year, including 5-1 this spring.
UNCG also got straight-set wins from Arsel Kumdereli and Yaroslav Litus after sweeping the three doubles’ pro-sets.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday at 1 pm when they visit Chattanooga for a Southern Conference match.