Elon 4, Davidson 3
ELON, N.C. - On the strength of Philip Nemec's 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (4) defeat of Davidson's Joe Schafer, the Elon Phoenix wrestled out a crucial 4-3 Southern Conference victory over the Davidson Wildcats.
With the match knotted at three all, crowds gathered to watch the charismatic Nemec and Schafer play out the final set of the match on court one. Despite battling back from a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreaker in the first set, Nemec fell behind after the 7-6 result went in favor of Schafer.
The remaining sets would go back-and-forth with each competitor trying to break serve. After his 7-5 second-set decision forced a third set, Nemec remained on serve and took a 5-4 lead. Schafer finally broke serve to go up 6-5 and it looked like momentum was swinging in the 'Cats' favor. Nemec held strong and broke Schafer's serve to force the tiebreaker. Nemec went up 3-1, before Schafer won the next three points to go ahead 4-3. Those were the final points that Schafer would win as Nemec kept fighting and took the final four points for the match-clinching victory.
The win kept the Phoenix (5-12, 4-3) within striking distance of one of the top spots in the league standings as the season approaches the final stretch. Davidson dropped to 10-7 overall and 4-4 in league action.
Elon jumped on top with hard-fought wins in all three doubles matches. Elon's Eric Turner and Thomas Darling won their second consecutive match with 8-4 defeat of Sam Burns and Chris Mark on court three. Cody Stauffer-MacDowell and Nemec battled out an 8-6 victory over Walker Lyons and Calum Gee at number two to clinch the doubles point with their ninth straight decision. The Phoenix completed the sweep when Alberto Rojas and Chase Helpingstine pulled out a 9-7 win against Eric Noble and Schafer on court one.
The Wildcats quickly evened the score with Marks' 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Rojas at number four. Davidson pulled ahead 2-1 on the strength of Noble's 6-4, 6-3 result over Helpingstine on court two.
Turner put the match back at even by taking a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lyons at number three. On court six, Darling took the first set 6-3, before finding himself down 5-1 in the second set. The sophomore rebounded and won the next six games to earn the 6-3, 7-5 victory and put Elon on top 3-2.
The match score evened once again as Gee fought back from a set down to earn the 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Stauffer-MacDowell at number five and make the Nemec and Schafer dual the deciding match.
UNC Greensboro 4, Appalachian State 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro won its 14th straight match at home and Orcun Seyrek extended his personal winning streak to 15 straight matches in singles play as the Spartans slipped past Appalachian State, 4-3, in Southern Conference men's tennis action Tuesday afternoon.
With the win, UNCG clinched a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament at the end of the month. The Spartans stayed perfect in SoCon play, running their mark to 7-0 in league play and 14-3 overall. UNCG finished its home slate 11-0 this season and will carry its school-record home winning streak into next year.
Seyrek, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year who went 25-5 last season, is now 15-1 on the spring season and 24-4 overall this year after topping Peter Jacobs by identical 6-2 scores at No. 1 singles.
Timion Meijs picked up his 21st win of the year when he won by retirement over Andrew McKinnon. McKinnon withdrew in the third set due to cramps. Meijs is now 21-7 on the year, including 13-3 this spring.
UNCG also got straight-set wins on senior day from Arsel Kumdereli and William John, who were playing in their final home match at UNCG.
The Citadel 7, Winston-Salem State 0
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Citadel tennis team defeated Winston-Salem State, 7-0, on Tuesday afternoon at the WSSU Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Bulldogs improve to 7-12 overall while the Rams fall to 2-18.
The Citadel swept all six singles matches in straight sets and the Bulldogs also took wins on all three courts in doubles.
At the No. 1 position, Alberto Diaz and Yufo Sutantio paired to defeat WSSU's Brian Coxton and Ian Hunter, 8-3, and David Orces and Derek Dickey defeated the Rams' Antentr Hinton and Joab Odera, 8-2, on Court No. 2. At the No. 3 spot, Josh Cook and Luis Morett shutout WSSU's Troy Moore and Mason King, 8-0.
For the first time this season, Diaz rallied at the No. 1 position and won, 6-3, 6-3, against the Rams' Coxton and Orces defeated WSSU's Hunter, 6-0, 6-1, on Court No. 2.
Over on Court No. 3, Cook downed the Rams' Moore, 6-2, 6-2, while Dickey collected a Bulldog point when he defeated WSSU's Odera, 6-1, 6-1. Morett dominated the Rams' Hinton, 6-0, 6-0, at the No. 5 position and Jeremiah Dye closed out singles play with a 6-1, 6-1, win against WSSU's King.