College of Charleston 4, Appalachian State 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston men's tennis emerged victorious from a grueling four-hour conference match with a 4-3 win over Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point Tennis Center. The contest comes just 16 hours after finishing a four-hour match yesterday against NC State.
The victory gives the Cougars (5-4, 1-0 SoCon) 11 straight wins in the Southern Conference. It also marks the third straight victory over the Mountaineers in as many years, and the second year CofC has edged App State by one point.
Junior Mickael Trintignac clinched the match for the Cougars with a 6-3 win in the third set at the No. 2 spot. He and opponent Alain Humblet traded sets before Trintignac came back in the third to win the final three points of the set.
Appalachian State (6-4, 0-1 SoCon) jumped out to a 2-0 start after winning the doubles point and capturing a win at the top singles spot. Senior Mickael Boyer put the Cougars on the board with a win over Andrew McKinnon in straight sets, 7-5, 6-0, at the No. 5 spot. Sophomore Kyle Parker forced his match to a third set, claiming the victory 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 as the fourth seed to tie the match at two apiece.
Junior Tom Delme also won in three sets at the No. 3 spot. He struggled in the second set, allowing Mountaineer Phil Kloc to take a 6-2 victory and force the match to a third set. Delme rallied to cruise to a 6-0 shutout in the third and give his team a 3-2 lead in the match.
Appalachian State responded with its own third-set victory as No. 6 Matt Saltsgaver responded after losing the first set to Cougar freshman Bryan Roberts to win the ensuing two and tie the match for the second time. The teams gathered around the remaining singles competition as Tringtinac held a 4-3 lead in the third set and went on to win the match.
The Cougars lost all three doubles matches, but Delme and sophomore Stephen Hardy remained close throughout their match at the No. 2 spot, forcing the Mountaineers to a tiebreak before yielding a 9-8 (4) decision. Trintignac and Boyer also stayed close to their opponents as the No. 3 seed, giving up an 8-6 decision to Andrew McKinnon and Matt Saltsgaver.
UNCG 6, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - UNCG swept through singles play for its fourth straight win Saturday, moving to 3-0 in the Southern Conference with a 6-1 road victory over Chattanooga.
The Spartans (8-3, 3-0 SoCon) dropped a hotly contested doubles point for the first time in the last four matches, with all three contests finishing with 9-7 scores. UNCG's Jacob Wright and Yaroslav Litus finished first, downing Trent Cobb and William Disterdick at No. 2. Chattanooga's Stephen Crofford and Jackson Tresnan pulled the Mocs even with a win over Chanon Varapongsittikul and Ahmet Sarioglu at No. 3, leaving the fate of the doubles point at No. 1.
There, the Mocs' Chris Smith and Roberto Vieira gutted out the win over Orcun Seyrek and Timion Meijs to put Chattanooga on top 1-0 heading into singles play.
UNCG responded emphatically, sweeping all six matches in straight sets to rally for the win.
Seyrek dropped Vieira at No. 1, 6-1, 6-4. Meijs topped Smith at No. 2, 6-1, 6-3, while Litus has to work a little harder for a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win over Cobb at No. 3.
Sarioglu pulled out a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Tresnan, snapping Tresnan's eight-match winning streak and handing him his first loss of the season at No. 4. Varapongsittikul cruised past Rick vande Bovenkamp 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5, and Zach Reece rebounded from his first loss of the season Thursday at Samford with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Matt Harris at No. 6.
The win was UNCG's fourth straight over Chattanooga (6-7, 1-1 SoCon) and snapped the Mocs' five-match winning streak.
Wofford 6, The Citadel 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's tennis team picked up its first conference win of the season after defeating the Citadel. The Terriers swept by the Bulldogs in singles play, easily winning five of the six singles matches. Coach Ray's squad also won the doubles point earlier in the match, beating the Citadel 6-1.
Wofford improves to a 5-6 overall record on the season and draws even in the Southern Conference with a 1-1 standing. The Citadel drops to 1-11 on the year, with a 0-3 record in the SoCon.
The Terriers won every doubles match to secure the doubles point. This marks the second time Wofford has swept all three doubles matches in the 2011 season, after doing the same against King College (2/9).
Alan Donald and Michael Schecter were first off the courts in doubles play. The duo defeated Josh Cook and Elliott, 8-2, at the No. 2 spot. Donald and Schecter are tied with Stuart Robertson and Tinus Van Wyk for the most doubles wins on the team with four. Robertson and Van Wyk won their doubles match at the top position. They beat Derek Dickey and David Orces 8-6.
Randall Heffron was given his fifth starting nod in doubles, pairing up with Jack Seiffert at the No. 3 spot. Heffron earned his first career doubles win after defeating Dillon Berkabile and Jeremiah Dye in a close match that finished 9-8 (7).
The Terriers maintained control in singles play, winning every match but one. Each match that was won was won in straight sets. Donald was first off the courts after capturing a quick 6-0, 6-3 victory over Cook at the No. 4 spot. Donald currently leads the team in singles wins with seven.
Tom Wood finished second after beating Dye at the No. 6 position. The English native only allowed Dye two games throughout the entire match, winning 6-1, 6-1. Superstein clinched the overall victory for the Terriers after beating Dickey 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 5 position. Superstein is now tied with Robertson and Wood for the second most singles wins on the team with five.
Schecter defeated Atkinson at the No. 2 spot. Schecter only gave up five games on the day, winning 6-3, 6-2. Robertson went on to beat Berkabile after taking his second set to a tight finish. Robertson finished 6-4, 7-6 (3) at the No. 3 position. Van Wyk had the lone loss at singles after losing in a super tie-breaker. After losing the first set, Van Wyk pushed for a 7-5 win in the second set, but ended up losing the super tie-breaker 10-4.
Elon 4, Davidson 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. - For the second Southern Conference match in a row, Davidson was within striking distance of a win, but fell just short in dropping another 4-3 decision, this time to visiting Elon when the Phoenix captured the winning point at the No. 2 singles spot on Saturday afternoon at the Knobloch Tennis Courts.
The 'Cats also dropped a 4-3 match to Chattanooga to open SoCon play last weekend when the Mocs took the doubles point, which proved to be the difference.
Tied at 3-all in team points, it came down to the No. 2 singles match of Joe Schafer and Cameron Silverman. It was a tightly contested match as both players took a set apiece with identical scores of 6-4, forcing the third and final set. Silverman went on to outlast Schafer in earning the deciding point, taking a 6-3 decision in the final set to give the Phoenix (7-5, 1-0 SoCon) their first league win and fifth win overall in the last six matches.
Davidson (3-10, 0-2 SoCon) had grabbed a 1-0 lead after taking two of the three doubles matches, but dropped four of the six singles matches in falling for the fifth time in a row.
Ethan Kallick and Walker Lyons opened their afternoon in impressive fashion, rolling to an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles.
The team of Chris Mark and Kevin Moore sealed the doubles point then with an 8-6 triumph at No. 3.
Davidson nearly took all three doubles spots as the No. 1 team of Schafer and Calum Gee (Ayr, Scotland) gave the Phoenix's nationally-ranked team of Phillip Nemec and Chase Helpingstine all they could handle. The 40th ranked doubles team in the nation though prevailed 8-6, but the 'Cats held the 1-0 lead.
Singles action saw Mark and Lyons both give Davidson their second and third points. Mark earned a three-set win over Nemec at No. 1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. The sophomore scored his first career collegiate win at the No. 1 spot.
Lyons then cruised to his sixth singles win of the season, and first in SoCon action, with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5 over Cody MacDowell.
Elon would pick up wins at No. 3, 4 and 6, setting up the showdown at No. 2 for the final team-point and the match.
Samford 7, Murray State 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University men's tennis team concluded its 32-day, nine-match homestand Saturday with a dominant 7-0 win against the Murray State Racers in a non-conference contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the victory, Samford (8-3) closed out its season-long homestand with a 7-2 record. The Bulldogs opened the stretch with a six-match winning streak against Jacksonville State, UNC Asheville, Gadsden State, Belmont, North Alabama and UAB. Throughout the entire season, Samford has compiled an 8-2 record at the Samford Tennis Center.
Murray State (1-8) lost its fifth-consecutive match Saturday. The Racers continued their losing streak which dates back to Feb. 13, when they posted a hard-fought 5-2 victory at Western Kentucky.
In Saturday's triumph, Samford won the doubles point by earning victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2. In the No. 1 doubles contest, the Bulldogs' tandem comprised of Oliver Reynolds and Carl Abalos posted an 8-3 win, while Samford's pairing of Zac Dunkle and Alexander Sajonz fought to an 8-4 triumph on court No. 2.
With their victory, Dunkle and Sajonz improved to 9-1 in doubles play this season.
Samford swept all six singles matches to earn its decisive 7-0 win Saturday. The Bulldogs' winners in singles play were Carson Kadi, Dunkle, Abalos, Reynolds, Fernando Costa and Sajonz. Samford's Kadi and Sajonz both improved to 8-2 in singles play this season with their victories.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a brief two-match, non-conference road trip against the Saint Leo Lions to be held in Saint Leo, Fla.