Men's Tennis Southern Conference

The Citadel Tops Elon, 4-3

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The doubles point, which was played two days ago, proved the ultimate difference as Elon and The Citadel split the singles matches and the Bulldogs pulled out a 4-3 victory in Southern Conference men's tennis action at the Earle Tennis Center on Tuesday afternoon. The match was started on Sunday, but inclement weather halted play midway through singles action.
 
The match was tied 3-3 with Elon's Cody Stauffer-MacDowell and The Citadel's Luis Morett still battling on court five. Stauffer-MacDowell took the first set 6-2, before Morett managed to force a deciding set after taking the second set, 7-5. The final set needed a tiebreaker and both Stauffer-MacDowell and Morett fought off several match points before Morett secured the 11-9 breaker to take the 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9) victory and give the Bulldogs the match.  
 
Elon (4-11, 3-2) has dropped its last two matches by 4-3 scores. The Citadel improved to 5-8 overall, evening its league mark to 2-2.
 
Doubles action was just as competitive as singles play as the teams split on courts two and three, leaving the top doubles match to determine the point. Stauffer-MacDowell and Philip Nemec earned a hard-fought 9-7 win over Derek Dickey and David Orces at number two doubles. On court three, Morett and Josh Cook defeated Elon's Clark Howell and Eric Turner, 8-5.
 
With the match tied at seven on court one, Alberto Rojas and Chase Helpingstine won the next game to give Elon the slight advantage. The Citadel's Yufo Sutantio and Alberto Diaz battled back and won the final two games to take a 9-8 (4) victory and give the Bulldogs the early lead.
 
Diaz increased The Citadel advantage with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat over Helpingstine at number two singles. Nemec put Elon on the board, earning a 7-5 (3), 6-1 decision against Sutantio on court one. Turner tied the match after posting a 6-4, 6-3 win over Dickey at number four. The lead bounced back to The Citadel when Orces defeated Rojas, 6-4, 6-4 at number three. Elon freshman Carlos Arboleda tied the score with a 7-5, 6-4 result over Tripp Larkin, leaving the match to be decided on court five.