Furman 5, UNC Greensboro 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman men's tennis team won the doubles point and four singles matches to edge UNC Greensboro 5-2 Saturday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C. With the win, the Paladins finish the regular season as the runner-up in the Southern Conference and enter next weekend's SoCon Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Furman jumped out to an early lead after sweeping the doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Junior Sawyer Duncan and senior Chris Motes defeated Orcun Seyrek and Arsel Kumdereli 8-7(3) at number one doubles, and senior Jordan Walters teamed with junior Andrei Chvetsov for an 8-2 win over Yaroslav Litus and Jacob Wright at number two doubles. Freshmen Carl Lundberg and Andrew Mellow posted an 8-3 win over Timion Meijs and William John in the third doubles match.
The Paladins won four out of six singles matches for the victory, with three freshmen picking up wins for Furman. Motes defeated Kumdereli 6-3, 6-2 at number two singles, and rookie Lundberg beat Wright 6-1, 6-1 at number three singles. In the number five singles match, rookie Mellow defeated Meijs 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), while freshman Tyler Droll recorded a 7-6, 6-3 win over Kyle Eddins at number six singles.
UNCG won two singles matches, with Seyrek defeating Duncan 7-5, 6-2 at number one singles, and Litus beating Walters 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth singles match.
Georgia Southern 5, Samford 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern captured the doubles point and four singles matches en route to a 5-2 triumph over Chattanooga Saturday afternoon (April 17). With one match left to play in the 2010 regular season, GS improved to 7-13 overall and picked up its second Southern Conference win of the year, moving to 2-6. Chattanooga fell to 5-15, 2-8.
The Eagles clinched the doubles point with the first two matches to finish. Gregory Bekkers and Edio Castanhel walked off the court first taking an 8-6 win at the three seed. Jayraj Jadeja and Justin Flynn made the doubles point final in favor of the Eagles winning 8-6 over Stephen Crofford and Chris Smith at No. 2.
Chattanooga completed doubles play recording its only win with an 8-4 decision at the top seed.
Georgia Southern was able to carry doubles momentum over to singles competition and sealed the conference win with the first three singles matches off the courts. Alain Garrido pushed the lead out to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 3 over Smith. Flynn put the Eagles on the brink of victory downing Jackson Tresnan, 6-2, 6-3 at the four seed.
Senior Bekkers clinched the conference win for GS winning at the five seed. Bekkers uprooted William Disterdick, 6-4, 6-3 as the Eagles sealed the win at 4-0. Chattanooga got on the board taking a three-set decision at No. 6, before Jadeja took a three-setter at No. 2.
Jadeja took the first set, 6-3, but fell in the second by the same margin before closing out the win with a 6-1 third-set win. The league foes finished the match at the top singles seed where Roberto Vieira topped Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos also in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Wofford 4, The Citadel 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision to the Wofford Terriers on Saturday afternoon at the Earle Tennis Center. The Bulldogs posted a 2010 record of 8-14, 2-8 SoCon while Wofford concludes the season at 8-13, 4-6 SoCon.
After losing the doubles point, The Citadel's Alberto Diaz defeated the Terriers' Stuart Robertson, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 2 position to even the match score, 1-1. Wofford moved ahead, 2-1 when Josh Cook fell, 6-4, 6-4, to the Terriers' Paul Bartholomy on Court No. 4.
At the No. 3 slot, David Orces dominated Wofford's Alan Donald, 6-3, 6-4, to tie the match once again. Derek Dickey then lifted the Bulldogs up, 3-2, when he topped the Terriers' Michael Schecter, 6-4, 6-3, on Court No. 5.
Wofford's Tom Wood responded in three sets at the No. 6 position to tie the match at 3-3. Luis Morett won the first set, 6-3, but the Terriers' Wood won the second set 6-1. Morett fought hard but lost, 6-3, in the third set.
This left Yufo Sutantio and Wofford's Tinus Van Wyk to rally for the win at the No. 1 position. Sutantio fell, 4-6, in the first set but forced a third set when he won, 6-4. Sutantio began to suffer from severe leg cramps in the third rally allowing the Terriers' Van Wyk to claim the Wofford win.
In doubles action, Sutantio and Diaz paired to win in a tiebreaker at the No. 1 position. The Bulldogs won, 8-7, (8-2) against the Terriers' Donald and Van Wyk. On Court No. 2, Orces and Dickey were defeated by Wofford's Bartholomy and Robertson, 8-4, and Josh Cook and Luis Morett fell, 8-3, to the Terriers' Drew Superstein and Tom Wood.
Elon 5, East Carolina 2
ELON, N.C. - The Elon men's tennis team won its third consecutive match with a 5-2 victory over the visiting East Carolina Pirates in front of a Senior Day crowd at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. Elon was impressive on its home courts this season, posting a 7-1 record on the maroon and gold courts. The Phoenix (8-13) will carry the momentum to the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament where it will face College of Charleston next Saturday morning. East Carolina fell to 18-7 on the year.
Elon got off to a strong start with dominating performances at number one and two doubles. The Phoenix's top duo of Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas was the first off the court, breaking serve on the strength of a 40-0 game to earn the 8-4 victory against Jaroslav Harvath and Henrik Skalmerud. Philip Nemec and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell extended their winning streak to an impressive 13 straight with an 8-2 defeat of Massimo Mannino and Bryan Oakley to clinch the early lead for the Phoenix. Elon's Tommy Darling paired with Elon's lone senior Clark Howell who was playing his final match in front of the home crowd. Unfortunately, ECU's Stephen Whitwell and Stian Tvedt came away with the 8-4 victory on court three.
In singles action, Helpingstine was quick to finish on court two as the junior won his third straight match with a 6-2, 6-3 result over Whitwell. Elon took a 3-0 lead when Stauffer-MacDowell cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win against Skalmerud at number four. The Pirates got on the board with a win on court six as Oakley earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over Elon freshman Carlos Arboleda.
After battling out a 7-5 win in set one, Rojas took the second set 6-2 over Mannino at number three to clinch the match for the Phoenix. Rojas has won his last three matches.
Nemec had his hands full with Horvath in the top singles match. The junior dropped a quick first set, 6-2, and was down 5-4 in the second before breaking serve to take a 6-5 advantage. Horvath broke back to force the tiebreaker. Nemec stretched the match to a third set, winning the tiebreak on his first match-point opportunity, 7-4. He fed off the momentum and pulled out the 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 win, his 11th of the season.
East Carolina's John Schmitt made the final score 5-2 after outlasting Darling on court five, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3.
Elon will face conference unbeaten College of Charleston in the first semifinal match of the league tournament on Saturday, April 24 at 8:30 a.m. The Phoenix dropped a 4-3 decision to the Cougars in the regular-season meeting.