Davidson 6, Gardner-Webb 1
Davidson 5, USC Upstate 0

DAVIDSON, N.C. - After a week off, the Davidson men's tennis team returned to action in winning style, scoring their first wins of the 2011 season with victories over Gardner-Webb (6-1) and No. 61 USC Upstate (5-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Knobloch Tennis Center.

Davidson (2-3) remained unbeaten against Gardner-Webb (1-4) since 2003 at 8-0, while running its record to 2-1 against USC Upstate (0-5). The Wildcats scored their first win over a nationally-ranked opponents since 2006 when they scored a 4-3 win over Presbyterian.

Joe Schafer, Arie Hefter and Walker Lyons each went 2-0 in singles play to guide the 'Cats, while Schafer and Calum Gee won both of their doubles matches in assisting Davidson to earn 1-0 leads to start both matches.

Davidson started its match against Gardner-Webb with wins at No.1 and 3 doubles, as Connor Evins and Kevin Moore sealed the doubles point with a 9-8 triumph at No. 3.

The 'Cats then scored wins at five of the six singles spots for the five-point victory and their first of 2011.

Much was the same vs. USC Upstate as Davidson opened up with 8-2 and 8-6 wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles and then scored wins in five of the singles matches for the 5-0 shutout.

Schafer moved to a team-best 4-1 on the year after securing 6-4, 6-2 and 7-5, 6-3 wins at No. 1 singles, while he and Gee improved to 3-2 in doubles action at No. 1 with their two doubles wins.

Hefter netted his first and second wins of the year with straight wins at No. 3 over Andrew Veeder (Gardner-Webb) and Gianluca Paino (USCU). He started the day with a 6-2, 4-1 win and then cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory in his last match.

Lyons scored his 31st and 32nd career singles wins with 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4, 6-0 victories at No. 4.

Gee and Moore each earned singles wins in the first match vs. the Runnin' Bulldogs as Gee took home a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 5 over Roman Piftor and Moore scored his second win of the year with a 3-6, 6-1, 11-9 triumph over Andrew Carter at No. 6.

Davidson hits the road for its next two matches, a 4 p.m. match against No. 64 Harvard on Feb. 11 and then a 1 p.m. match against Brown on Feb. 12.

UNCG 4, UNC Asheville 3

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNCG's men's tennis team moved to 2-0 on the dual season with a 4-3 win at UNC Asheville on Saturday, dropping the doubles point but winning four singles matches to claim victory.

The Bulldogs (1-1) swept through doubles play for the early 1-0 team lead. At No. 1, Nathan White and Nicolai Nonnenbroich downed Orcun Seyrek and Ahmet Sarioglu, 8-5. Jonas Brobeck and Matt Waissen defeated Timion Meijs and Chanon Varapongsittikul at No. 2, 8-4, while Thomas Rees and Adrien Langeard topped Zach Reece and Yaroslav Litus at No. 3, 8-4.

The Spartans would come back in singles play, winning four of the six matches. Freshmen Varapongsittikul and Sarioglu both moved to 2-0 in the dual season with wins Saturday, with Varapongsittikul taking a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ryan Matthews at No. 4 and Sarioglu earning a 6-3, 7-6 decision at No. 5 over Brobeck.

Seyrek picked up a 6-4, 7-5 win over Nonnenbroich at No. 1, while Reece beat Rees at No. 6, 6-2, 6-4.

UNCA picked up wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Langeard dropped Meijs at No. 2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. Waissen eased past Litus, 6-3, 6-3.

The Spartans will try to make it a 3-0 start to the season when they return to action at USC Upstate on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Georgia State 5, Georgia Southern 2

ATLANTA, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team (1-1) suffered its first loss of the 2011 season with Georgia State taking the 5-2 win at Piedmont Park Saturday, February 5th. Sophomore Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) and classmate Matthjis Verdam (Hilversum, The Netherlands) teamed up to win the point at number-one doubles 8-6 over Victor Valente and Breon Badger. Puigventos defeated Badger 6-0, 6-0 at number-one singles to win that point.

Verdam battled Thomas Cook at number-three singles, falling in the first set 3-6, then coming back to win the second set 6-4 before the results of the other matches were finalized. The Panthers notched their fourth-straight win.

The Eagles will take on Kennesaw State at the Laurel Park Tennis Center in Marietta, Ga. This is the season home opener for the 2-0 Owls.

Alabama 7, Furman 0

TUSCALOOSA, ALA. - The No. 33 Alabama Crimson Tide blanked Furman, 7-0, in men's tennis action Saturday afternoon at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

No. 19 Ricky Doverspike defeated Paladin senior Sawyer Duncan, 6-4, 6-3 at number one singles, and Jarryd Botha posted a 6-1, 6-0 win over senior Andrei Chvetsov in the number two singles contest.  In the number three singles match, Paladin freshman Alex Christ dropped a 6-3, 7-5 match to Vikram Reddy, and Daniil Proskura beat sophomore Andrew Mellow, 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth singles match.  Michael Thompson defeated sophomore Robbie Aru, 6-2, 6-4, at number five singles, and Carlos Taborga handed senior Watson George a 6-1, 6-1 defeat in the sixth singles match.

In doubles action, the Crimson Tide swept the doubles matches to win the doubles point.  Doverspike and Reddy teamed up for an 8-3 win over Duncan and Chvetsov at number one doubles, and Botha and Proskura defeated Christ and freshman Joel Cook, 8-4, in the second doubles match.  At number three doubles, Thompson and Trey Walston beat sophomores Bobby Browning and Mellow, 8-6.

Furman (0-5) will open the 2011 home season on Sunday, Feb. 13, when the Paladins entertain DePaul at 10:30 a.m. and Brevard at 3:30 p.m. 

Tennessee Tech 4, Chattanooga 3

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team dropped a 4-3 match to Tennessee Tech at the Hixson Racquet Club this afternoon.  The Mocs went up 3-1, but dropped the last three singles contests to fall to 0-5 on the year while TTU improves to 1-3. 

Chattanooga started off the day with a win at No. 1 doubles.  Freshman Trent Cobb and sophomore William Disterdick posted an 8-4 win but the Mocs lost the doubles point to fall behind 1-0. 

UTC mounted a rally in singles action, led by sophomore Jackson Tresnan.  He scored a 6-0, 6-0 win against James Crawdord at No. 5.  Senior Rick van de Bovenkamp followed that up with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Arturo Santa Ruiz at No. 4.  Cobb rounded out the Mocs scoring with his 6-4, 6-4 win over Justin Kristein at No. 2. 

Chattanooga dropped the next three matches, two three-setters and one that went to a tiebreaker in the second set, to lose 4-3.  UTC is back on the court tomorrow at the Hixson Racquet Club.  UTC hosts North Alabama at 10:00 a.m. (E.S.T.). 

South Carolina 5, Appalachian State 2

BOONE, N.C. - The Appalachian State University men's tennis team received its first loss of the season, as it fell 5-2 to South Carolina.

The Mountaineers didn't get off to a good start, as it only won one of its doubles matches.

Senior duo Alain Humblet and Philip Kloc won at No. 1 doubles over Johannes Pulsfort and Chris Sheehan, 8-4.

At the No. 2 doubles, Alex Markov and Andrew McKinnon let Chip Cox and Ivan Machado slip away with a 9-7 victory.

Ezekiel Sansing and Sebastien King dropped their match 8-4.

Singles play was not much better for ASU's with only King and Matt Saltsgaver, claiming a win in their match-ups at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. The two freshman showed great poise by losing their first sets but coming back to win the final two.

At the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, Markov and McKinnon lost a pair of tight matches, as each of them pushed their respective matches to three sets.

The Black and Gold will now rest for a week, as it will travel to Johnson City, Tenn. on February 12 to face nationally ranked East Tennessee State.