Georgia Southern 4, College of Charleston 3
STATESBORO, Ga. - On senior day at the Hanner Tennis Complex, the Georgia Southern men’s tennis team battled to a 4-3 victory over Southern Conference rival College of Charleston (April 8), capturing a win for the second consecutive year over the Cougars. Prior to the match seniors Joris De Weerdt, Philip Prins, Alonso Rodriguez and Matthew Sands were honored for their contributions to Georgia Southern tennis.
The win marked the Eagles’ third straight victory and snapped a two-match Cougar win streak. Charleston remained winless on the road this season (0-10), falling to 7-12 overall and 4-5 in conference play. Georgia Southern improved to 8-7-1 and 4-3-1 against SoCon opponents.
Proving to be a crucial component in the match, the Eagles began the day winning two of three doubles matches to gain the early team advantage. The Cougars took the first match from the number three position before Georgia Southern rallied back for wins at the one and two seeds. The junior duo of Justin Flynn and Jayraj Jadeja evened the playing field with an 8-5 victory over Omer Abramovich and Steven Myers before seniors Joris De Weerdt and Matthew Sands clinched the point in the top doubles pairing. Going all out in their last home contest, De Weerdt and Sands were tied at 4-all before a break allowed the Eagles to serve out the match at 7-6 to secure the early team lead and an 8-6 victory.
The Cougars carried the high energy from doubles to singles play, taking an early lead on four of six singles courts. Junior Gregory Bekkers gave the Eagles their first singles win to make the match score 2-0 with a straight set 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Cougar Lukas Koncilia at the two seed. Bekkers improved to 6-3 this season against conference opponents with the win. Charleston took the next match as Mickael Trintiqnac won his sixth straight contest with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Eagle Alain Garrido at No. 4. But fellow freshman Edio Castanhel responded for Georgia Southern with a 6-3,6-3 win over Joe Nicolazzi from the six spot to put the Eagles on the threshold of a victory.
Charleston came within one when Abramovich finished off a three set victory over De Weerdt at the top singles position. The Cougar pushed the score to 3-2 with the 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 decision and all eyes turned to courts three and five for a match decision.
After dropping the first set 6-3, Flynn found himself down 4-1 in the second set before he rallied to take a 6-5 lead. The junior took the second set 7-5 to push the fifth court into a third set, but it would be fellow classmate Jadeja that sealed the win for Georgia Southern at the No. 3 court. On serve in the third set after splitting the first two, Jadeja broke Cougar Tom Delme at 4-3 to take a 5-3 advantage. The Hayes, England native then served out the match at 40-30 to clinch the win for Georgia Southern with the 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 feat. Flynn retired at the five position following the match-clinching win.
Wofford 5, Davidson 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Hunting for their second Southern Conference win of the year, the Davidson men?s tennis team fell short in a 5-2 match to the Wofford Terriers on Wednesday afternoon at Covington Tennis Courts.
Davidson fell to 5-14 overall and 1-7 in league play, while Wofford improved to 12-9 overall and 6-2 in SoCon action.
Despite the No. 2 doubles teams of Scott Myers and Walker Lyons picking up their second win in a row with an 8-4 decision over Alan Donald and Paul Bartholomy, the Wildcats dropped the doubles point. Wofford took 9-7 and 8-0 decisions at No. 1 and 3 to capture the point for a brief 1-0 lead.
Myers gave the Wildcats their first point with a third set super tie breaker win (10-7) to run his singles mark to 9-9 on the year. The senior forced a super tie breaker by taking a 7-6 tie breaker win in the second set.
No. 1 Eric Noble captured the Wildcats? second point, but Wofford took wins at the other four singles slots for the win in the match. Noble tallied his eighth singes win of the year, and second in league play, with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Stuart Robertson.
Freshman Calum Gee nearly got Davidson a third point by forcing a third set with a 6-4 win in the second set. The freshman had dropped the first set 6-2. Tinus Van Wyk of Wofford eventually earned the win, but it wasn?t easy as Gee forced an extra game in the third set before dropping a 7-5 decision.
UNC Greensboro 5, Charlotte 2
CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? Freshman Orcun Seyrek earned his 21st win of the season as UNC Greensboro won four of six singles matches and rolled past in-state rival Charlotte, 5-2, in men’s tennis action Wednesday afternoon.
The Spartans also got straight-set singles wins by freshman Jacob Wright and sophomore Yaroslav Litus to go with a three-set victory by William John. UNCG raised its record to 11-6 on the season with the win.
Seyrek, a freshman from Istanbul, Turkey, won his 12th straight match and raised his record to 21-3 overall, including 16-1 this spring. He swept Mortiz Berhoerster, 6-1 and 6-3, at No. 1 singles and also teamed up with Arsel Kumdereli for a win at No. 1 doubles. They are now 15-5 as a doubles duo this season, including 12-4 in spring duals.
UNCG returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Georgia Southern at 12 noon.