Furman 6, Army 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman men's tennis team defeated Army, 6-1, Thursday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C. The Paladins swept the doubles matches, then won five out of six singles matches for the team victory.
In doubles action, senior Sawyer Duncan and sophomore Andrew Mellow combined for an 8-3 victory over Tripp Johnson and Donald Van Velzer in the top match-up. At number two doubles, freshmen Joel Cook and Alex Christ defeated Gary Kushnirovich and Alex Holland, 8-3, then freshman Marco Aru and junior Watson George teamed up for an 8-7(5) win over Asika Isho and Henry Jang-Milsten in the third doubles match.
Duncan defeated Isoh, 6-3, 6-4, in the number one singles match, while Mellow beat Kushnirovich, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, at number two singles. Senior Andrei Chvetsov posted a 6-2, 7-6 win over Van Velzer at number three singles, and sophomore Tyler Droll beat Jang-Milsten, 6-3, 7-6, in the fifth singles match. Cook notched a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Holland in the number six singles contest.
The Black Knights lone win came at number four singles, where Johnson defeated Christ, 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
Furman (3-12, 1-1 SoCon) will face #47 Cornell Monday at 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern 4, Liberty 3
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Tennis (8-5) pulled out the 4-3 victory over Liberty (7-7) on Thursday, March 17th, at the Hanner Tennis Complex. The win was the fourth-straight for the Eagles, marking the longest win streak since a six-match skein in 2000.
"We didn't take advantage of the opportunities we were given in doubles and we let Liberty take control," said Eagle Men's Tennis Coach Nick Zieziula. "Before the singles matches I told the team that we needed to raise our level. It wasn't a question of if we could do it, it was just if we would hold ourselves to a higher standard and raise the level in all six singles matches. We did just that and we were able to come up with the four points we needed."
Georgia Southern fell behind 0-1 after doubles play, but sophomore Juan Melian Puigventos evened the score at 1-1 with his win at number-one singles. Puigventos extended his singles match win streak to six and upped his season record to 12-1 with the victory over Siim Tuus. Eagle senior Mark Paetz tied the score again at 2-2 with his 7-6, 6-2 defeat of Stanislav Vaughan at number-six singles.
A straight-set win over Liberty's Tristan Stayt by junior Alain Garrido put the Eagles up 3-2. Sophomore Matthijs Verdam clinched the team match win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, over the Flames number-two singles player Shea Thomas. Verdam, who also extended his win streak to six matches, reached the 10-win mark for 2011 and how has a 5-0 record at No. 2 singles.
Liberty won the doubles point behind Giancarlo Lemmi and Shea Thomas, who took the first doubles win, 8-3, over Edio Castanhel and Puigventos at the number-two spot. Tuus and Benjamin Wirth secured the team point with their 8-4 win over Garrido and Marco Osorio at number-one doubles.
The final match in the Eagles' six-game homestand is set for Saturday, March 19th, at 11 a.m. against Southern Conference opponent Wofford.
UNCG 5, Charlotte 2
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - UNCG won its fifth straight match Saturday, dropping Charlotte 5-2 at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex.
The Spartans (9-3) opened by winning the doubles point for the fourth time in the last five matches. At No. 1, Orcun Seyrek and Timion Meijs grabbed an 8-4 win over Moritz Bernhoerster and Charles Martin-Lecamp, but Charlotte's Michael Anders and Chris Hyynh downed Zach Reece and Ahmet Sarioglu at No. 3 to draw the 49ers even.
Yarlslav Litus and Jacob Wright continued their hot play of late to clinch the doubles point, topping Anthony Davison and Krzysztof Kwasniewicz at No. 2, 8-6, for their sixth win in their last seven matches.
In singles play, Reece breezed to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Victor Theorin at No. 6 to get things started. Seyrek followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Martin-Lecamp at No. 1, but Bernhoerster downed Litus at No. 3, 6-2, 6-0, to keep UNCG from clinching just yet.
Davison pulled the 49ers (3-12) within a point at 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sarioglu at No. 4, but Chanon Varapongsittikul locked up the win for the Spartans with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over Alex Weber at No. 5.
Meijs finished the day with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Anders at No. 2.
The win was UNCG's third straight on the road. UNCG wraps up a four-match road swing when it returns to Southern Conference play at Davidson on Saturday. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start.