Harvard 5, Davidson 2
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Coming off an upset of nationally ranked USC Upstate, Davidson was hoping for its second straight win over a ranked opponent, but fell short in a 5-2 decision at No. 73 Harvard on Friday afternoon.
The Wildcats (2-4) were playing their fourth ranked opponent to open the season, and second straight, as they held their own against the Crimson (3-3). The 'Cats have also played top-75 teams in N.C. State, Clemson and just last week, USC Upstate.
Davidson fell behind 1-0 early as Harvard captured all three doubles matches, but the Wildcats battled to the end. Joe Schafer and teammate Calum Gee scored wins in six games, but fell 8-6 in their match at No. 1. Also playing down to the wire was the team of Walker Lyons and freshman Ethan Kallick at No. 2 as they also picked up wins in six games, but fell 8-6.
Harvard then took four of the six singles matches for the 5-2 win. The Wildcats two team points came from Lyons and Gee at No. 4 and 5. Lyons ran his singles mark to 4-1 with a straight set 6-3, 6-3 win over Andy Nguyen.
Gee forced a third-set super tiebreaker when he regrouped after dropping a 6-3 first-set match to score a 7-6 second-set tiebreaker win. He then earned a 10-8 victory in the super tiebreaker in the third set.
Schafer and Chris Mark tried to give the Wildcats another pair of singles wins, each going into a three-set. Schafer took his first set against Jonathan Pearlman (6-3), but dropped a pair of 6-3 decisions in the second and third sets to fall to 4-2 on the season at No. 1 singles.
Mark trailed after one set, but came back to score a 6-2 decision in the second set, before falling 6-4 in the final set of his singles match.
Harvard also earned a 7-0 win over Quinnipiac earlier in the day for a sweep of its two matches on the day.
Old Dominion 4, UNCG 3
NORFOLK, Va. - UNCG won three of the six singles matches but it was not enough to earn the comeback win as the Spartans suffered their first loss of the season late Friday at Old Dominion, 4-3.
Down 3-0 after the Monarchs (9-1) took the doubles point and wins at Nos. 3 and 1 singles, the Spartans (3-1) got wins from their undefeated freshmen at the bottom of the lineup. Chanon Varapongsittikul improved to 4-0 in duals with a 7-6, 6-0 win at No. 5 over Alfredo Rodriguez. Classmate Ahmet Sarioglu also moved to 4-0, cruising past Clay Cypert at No. 6, 6-2, 6-1 to make it a 3-2 affair.
Timion Meijs tied it for UNCG at No. 2, downing Ben Chomette, 6-4, 6-3.
ODU locked up the match at No. 4, however, as Albert Ochagavia defeated Jacob Wright, 6-2, 6-2.
Orcun Seyrek fell to Tobias Fanselow at No. 1, 6-2, 6-4. Krsysztof Muzalewski earned a 6-0, 6-3 win over Yaroslav Litus at No. 3.
The Monarchs swept through doubles play to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. Fanselow and Muzalewski downed Seyrek and Sarioglu at No. 1, 8-4. Chomette and Fahoum Fahoum topped Meijs and Varapongsittikul at No. 2 by the same score, and Ochavagia and Rodriguez eased past Litus and Wright at No. 3, 8-1.
UNCG returns to action next Friday when it hosts Campbell at the UNCG Tennis Courts at 2 p.m.