UNCG 6, Wofford 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Featuring a revamped lineup, UNCG won its Southern Conference opener for the third straight season, downing Wofford on Saturday 6-1 at the UNCG Tennis Courts.
UNCG coach Thomas Mozur tinkered with his doubles lineup with outstanding results, as the Spartans (5-3, 1-0 SoCon) - who had won the doubles point just once this season and only five doubles matches total - swept all three matches to take an early 1-0 lead over the Terriers (4-6, 0-1 SoCon).
The new No. 3 tandem of freshmen Chanon Varapongsittikul and Ahmet Sarioglu got on the board first, cruising to an 8-2 win over Jack Seiffert and Randall Heffron. Orcun Seyrek and Timion Meijs, playing together for the first time in their careers, picked up an 8-4 win over Tinus Van Wyk and Stuart Robertson at No. 1 to clinch the point.
Yaroslav Litus and Jacob Wright moved up from their usual No. 3 slot to No. 2, taking an 8-4 win over Alan Donald and Michael Schecter to complete the doubles sweep.
The Spartans kept the momentum from doubles going into singles play, as Seyrek wrapped up a quick 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 to make it 2-0. Litus followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Robertson at No. 3, and Meijs finished a 6-1, 6-2 win over Schecter at No. 2 shortly thereafter to clinch the win.
Redshirt freshman Zach Reece remained undefeated in dual singles play with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over Tom Wood at No. 6 to move to 5-0 on the season. Playing at No. 4 for the first time this season, Sarioglu upped his dual record to 7-1, rebounding from a first-set loss to down Donald, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Wofford picked up its lone point at No. 5 singles, where Drew Superstien pulled out a dramatic 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (11-9) win over Varapongsittikul.
The Spartans will step back out of SoCon play to host Longwood on Tuesday at the UNCG Tennis Courts at 3 p.m.
Furman 7, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Furman men's tennis team rolled to a 7-0 victory over the Citadel Saturday afternoon in the Southern Conference opener for both schools. The Paladins won all six singles matches plus each of the three doubles contests for the win.
Senior Sawyer Duncan defeated David Orces, 6-4, 7-5, at number one singles, while sophomore Andrew Mellow notched a 7-5, 6-3 win over Dillon Berkabile in the second singles match up. At number three singles, freshman Alex Christ beat James Atkinson 6-1, 6-2, and sophomore Tyler Droll posted a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Josh Cook in the fourth singles match. Rookie Joel Cook beat Derek Dickey, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, at number five singles, and sophomore Robbie Aru tallied a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Elliott Sperr in the sixth singles match.
In doubles action, Duncan teamed with Mellow for an 8-3 win over Cook and Jeremiah Dye in the top doubles match. At number two doubles, senior Andrei Chvetsov combined with Droll to defeat Dickey and Orces, 8-3. Cook and junior Watson George defeated Atkinson and Berkabile, 8-5, in the third doubles match.
Furman (1-10, 1-0 SoCon) will play at Coastal Carolina Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Radford 6, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. - The Elon men's tennis team's three-match winning streak came to halt today, March 5, as the Radford Highlanders defeated the Phoenix, 6-1, at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon drops to 6-5 on the year, while Radford improves to 4-4.
Elon's top doubles duo of Phillip Nemec and Chase Helpingstine, ranked 40th in the country, easily won their match against Ivan Salec and Thomas Dehaen, 8-3, improving to 7-1 on the season.
Radford's Nicholas Sayer and Paul Boslet defeated Thomas Darling and Eric Turner, 8-4, on court three leaving the doubles point up to the match at number two. Alberto Rojas and Cameron Silverman found themselves down 5-4 half way through their match against Igor Ogrizek and Stijin Muelmans, but the duo was able to win four of the next five games to take the 8-6 victory and win the doubles point for the Phoenix.
It was all Radford in singles play as Boslet defeated Darling, 6-3, 6-0, and Meulemans defeated Helpingstine, 6-0, 6-3, at number six and four, respectively.
Both Nemec and Turner fell 6-4, 6-4 on courts one and three to Salec and Ogrizek. Ogrizek's win over Turner clinched the match for the Highlanders with two matches still in play.
Silverman won his first set over Sayer, 6-4, at number two then dropped the second set 7-5. A tiebreak was played in place of a third set in which Sayer won 10-5 to improve the Radford lead to 5-1. In the last contested match, Rojas fell to Dehaen, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (10-5), giving the Highlanders the final 6-1 win.
The Elon men's tennis team will open up Southern Conference play next Saturday, March 12, at Davidson in a 1 p.m. match.