Appalachian State 4, Liberty 3
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Appalachian State University men's tennis earned its first win of the young season Saturday evening, as the Mountaineers defeated Liberty in a 4-3 thriller. With the win, the Black and Gold improve to 1-1 on the 2009-10 campaign, while Liberty drops to 1-2 on the season.
The Apps began the match on a strong note, notching wins in two of three doubles matches.
The team of Trent Constance and Peter Jacobs defeated their opponents easily 8-5 at the number one doubles spot, while Philip Kloc and Alain Humblet secured the doubles point winning 8-4 over Giancarlo Lemmi and Chad Simpson.
Suffering the only defeat in doubles play of the match, Luka Vujinovic and Britton Webb came up just short to Ben Wirth and Louis Steyn at the number three doubles spot, falling 8-5.
The Flames however quickly re-took the match advantage as Constance and Jacobs both fell in two sets to their opponents at the number one and two singles spots. The Mountaineers' would rally, as Kloc, Humblet and freshman Andrew McKinnon reeled off three straight victories at the three, four and five positions.
Humblet handily beat Simpson, 6-3, 6-3 while Kloc cruised past Lemmi in two sets and McKinnonn beat Wirth 6-4, 6-2.
Capping off singles play, Ezekiel Sansing came up just short in a hard fought match at the number six position, falling 6-4, 3-6 and 17-15 to Louis Steyn.
Looking to continue its winning ways, ASU returns home to host Lees-McRae, Monday February 15 with the match slated to begin at 5 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 6, Navy 1
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - UNC Greensboro won five of the six singles match in straight sets and squeaked by in two of three doubles pro-sets to top host Navy, 6-1, in men's tennis action on Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans raised their mark to 3-1 on the season and came home from their northern weekend road swing with a split. Yaroslav Litus and Kyle Eddins had the easiest wins of the day. Litus won at No. 4 singles over Jermey New, 6-3 and 6-2. Eddins, playing at No. 6 singles, topped Matt Richmond by identical 6-3 scores.
Arsel Kumdereli, Orcun Seyrek and Timion Meijs also earned straight-set wins for the Spartans. Kumdereli and Seyrek also clinched the doubles point when they won a tie-breaker over Owen Bullard and Eddie Konrad, 7-5.
The Spartans return to action next Saturday when they host UNC Asheville at Starmount Forest Country Club's new indoor facility. Start time is set for 6:00 p.m.
North Florida 4, Elon 1
DURHAM, N.C. - The Elon men's tennis team suffered a 4-1 loss to the North Florida Ospreys (4-2) on Saturday morning. Several inches of snow forced the Phoenix (0-5) to move its home opener to the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Duke University. The match was called once the winner was determined.
The teams began the match with singles competition. North Florida's Kurt Gattiker put the Ospreys on the scoreboard with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Cody Stauffer-MacDowell at number six. The Ospreys extended their advantage to 2-0 when Moritz Buerchner earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Elon's Philip Nemec at the top position.
At number four, Hleb Maslau battled back after losing the first set to take a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Elon's Alberto Rojas as North Florida moved within a point of clinching the match. Eric Turner put the Phoenix on the board with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Leonardo Nahar at number three. North Florida clinched the match with a win at number two when Taylor Albrecht handed Chase Helpingstine his first loss in four matches. Albrecht earned a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win.
The Phoenix has a quick turnaround as it takes on the 46th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C. tomorrow at 1 p.m.