Furman 5, Appalachian State 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman men's tennis team defeated Appalachian State, 5-2, Wednesday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center to push the Paladins' Southern Conference record to 3-0.
Appalachian State opened the match with wins at number one and number two doubles to claim the doubles point. Trent Constance and Peter Jacobs defeated Paladin senior Jordan Walters and freshman Carl Lundberg 8-4 at number one, while Alain Humblet and Philip Kloc posted an 8-6 victory over Paladin seniors Chris Motes and Robert Bruner in the second doubles match. Furman recorded a win at number three doubles, as freshmen Andrew Mellow and Tyler Droll combined for an 8-6 win over Andrew McKinnon and Ezekiel Sansing.
The Paladins came back with wins in five out of six singles matches for the team victory. Furman junior Sawyer Duncan defeated Constance 6-3, 6-2 in the number one singles match, and Motes beat Jacobs 6-1, 6-1 at number two singles. In the number three singles match, Lundberg posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Humblet, and Mellow defeated McKinnon 6-1, 6-1 in the fifth singles match. At number six singles, Droll beat Sansing 6-2, 6-4. The Terriers' lone singles win came at number four singles, as Kloc defeated Walters 2-6, 6-0, (10-7).
Davidson 5, The Citadel 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson started off a busy week with its second league win of the season as the Wildcats scored a 5-2 decision over The Citadel on Wednesday afternoon in Southern Conference men's tennis action at the Covington Tennis Courts.
Playing the first of five matches in an eight-day stretch, Davidson ran its overall mark to 8-3 and saw its SoCon record run to 2-1. The Citadel fell to 5-9 overall and 2-3 in SoCon matches.
The Wildcats showed no signs of rust since having not played since Mar. 13 as they started things off with a pair of wins in doubles play and then rattling off singles wins at No. 1 and 4-6 to capture the win.
Joe Schafer and Eric Noble got things rolling with an impressive 8-1 triumph at No. 1 doubles to push their win streak to four straight.
The duo of Calum Gee and Walker Lyons sealed up the doubles point with an 8-6 win over Derek Dickey and David Orces at No. 2. The pair of Wildcats also ran their win streak to four straight as they improved to 9-1 in doubles and remained unbeaten in league matches at 3-0.
Schafer and Gee then helped Davidson score a couple of singles wins early. Schafer ran his singles mark to 3-0 in SoCon play (8-1 overall) with a solid three-set win at No. 1. He took the first and third sets by the scores of 6-3 after dropping the middle match, 6-4.
Gee won his team-best eighth straight and remained perfect at the No. 3 position (3-0) with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Dickey. Gee is 8-1 on the season, one of four 'Cats with at least six singles wins this year.
Not to be out-done was Chris Mark and Sam Burns as the duo gave Davidson its final two points. The freshman Mark ran his record to a team-best 10-1 in singles play after a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Josh Cook, while Burns matched Gee and Schafer by remaining perfect in league matches after taking a super tiebreaker in the third set. The senior won the first set vs. Luis Morett, 7-6, but dropped a 6-3 decision in the second set. He dominated the tiebreaker, scoring a 10-3 decision.
Davidson as a team this year is 47-14 in singles play, 13-5 when it comes to league matches. Four of the current six Wildcats in the starting lineup have at least a three-match win streak going.
Chattanooga 7, Lee University 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team posted a 7-0 win over Lee University at the Champions Club in Chattanooga today. The Mocs snapped a five-match losing streak to post their second win of the season today (2-10, 0-4 SoCon). Lee falls to 4-3 with the loss.
The match began with singles play as Chattanooga took all six matches. Freshman Roberto Vieira made quick work of Tyler Jeffers 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 to start the day. Fellow freshman Chris Smith posted his team-leading ninth singles win of the year with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Renan Molinero at No. 3.
Sophomore Sam Parfitt broke a personal seven-match losing streak in singles play with his 6-1, 6-1 win over Marco Martinelli at No. 4. Junior Rick van de Bovenkamp also got his first win in six tries with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Fabio Median at No. 6. Freshman Ryan Pool (No. 1) and William Disterdick (No. 5) also posted singles wins today.
Junior Gordon Ruddell and van de Bovenkamp teamed up for the first time this spring to post an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles. Juniors Matt Harris and Tyler Pullen also saw their first action of the season in an 8-6 loss at No. 3. Pool and Vieira had an 8-2 win at No. 1.
Chattanooga hosts a pair of Southern Conference foes this weekend. UTC welcomes Wofford on Saturday, March 27, followed by Furman on Sunday. Both matches are set for 2:30 p.m. (E.D.T.) at the UTC Tennis Courts.
Georgia State 5, Georgia Southern 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern recorded two singles victories, but could not rally after dropping a tight doubles point, falling 5-2 against Georgia State (March 24). Senior Jayraj Jadeja went undefeated picking up wins in both doubles and singles, while freshman Matthijs Verdam proved victorious in singles action. Georgia State moved to 10-5 on the season, while the Eagles slipped to 4-11.
Georgia State took the early lead in doubles with an 8-4 win at the No. 2 position, but a pair of 9-7 duals would decide the point at the remaining two seeds. Calvin Kemp and Henri Mangin outlasted Gregory Bekkers and Edio Castanhel at the No. 3 seed, 9-7, resulting in the Panthers taking the early match lead, 1-0.
Georgia Southern rounded out doubles play with Jadeja and Justin Flynn claiming a 9-7 decision at the top seed over Jackson Moore and Trenton Spinks. But the Panthers used the momentum from doubles and took five of six first sets to open singles play.
The Panthers would secure four straight-set victories, with Victor Valente's 6-4, 6-2 win over Alain Garrido at No. 2 sealing the victory.
Jadeja and Verdam were the only Eagles able to rally for wins, both coming in super tiebreaks. Senior Jadeja opened play with a 6-4 first set win, but Moore responded in the second set with a 6-4 decision. Jadeja jumped out with an early lead in the super tiebreak, but the Panther would rally back to tie the final straw twice. Moore had match point at 9-8, but Jadeja pulled even at 9-all and ultimately secured the match, 12-10.
Verdam bounced back from a 6-4 setback in the first to top Spinks in the second set by the same margin. The freshman handled Spinks in the super tiebreak, defeating the Panther, 10-5 for the win.
Georgia Southern hits the road for a pair of Southern Conference matches this weekend traveling first to Davidson on March 27. The Eagles take on the Wildcats at 1 p.m. before facing Appalachian State on Sunday at noon.
East Carolina 4, UNC Greensboro 3
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Orcun Seyrek won his 12th straight singles match, but East Carolina rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat UNC Greensboro, 4-3, in men's tennis action Wednesday afternoon.
Seyrek topped Jaroslav Horvath at No. 1 singles and Yaroslav Litus downed Enrik Skalmerud at No. 4 singles by identical 6-3, 6-0 scores. That came after UNCG had won two of three doubles matches - wins that Litus and Seyrek both had a hand in - to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead.
But the Pirates stormed back to win the remaining four singles matches to win the match and run its mark to 13-4 on the year. UNCG dropped to 11-3 on the spring season.
With the win, Seyrek moved to 12-1 on the spring season and 21-4 overall on the year. The 2009 SoCon Player of the Year, the native of Istanbul, Turkey is now 46-9 as a Spartan.
The Spartans have a week off until their next match, when they host Elon for a conference tilt next Wednesday, March 31. Start time for the match is set for 2:30 p.m.