Appalachian State 6, Mercer 1
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. - Appalachian State University men's tennis tore through the Mercer Bears 6-1 on Monday. ASU's win boosts its record to 5-3 while MU drops to 4-6 on the early season.
Unlike yesterday, Appalachian fell behind early by losing two-of-three doubles matches and relinquishing the doubles point.
The Black and Gold's lone doubles victory came at the No. 1 duo of Alain Humblet and Philip Kloc. The tandem easily defeated Peter Tauchner and Evandro Rosindo, 8-2.
At the No. 2 position, Alex Markov and Sebastien King were defeated 8-4 by Pierre Tafelski and David Barton. Matt Saltsgaver and Andrew McKinnon fell by the same score at the No. 3 pairing.
The Mountaineers came out on fire for singles play, as it won all six matches with four-of-six being decided in two sets.
Markov had a battle with Tafelski for the first set, but the Bulgarian native made his move in the second set to win at the No. 1 position, 7-6, 6-1.
Humblet, who played at the number two position, and McKinnon, who played the No. 5 spot, both thumped their opponents by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Kloc and King were the only ASU players that had to battle through three sets but each came out victorious. Kloc won his first set handily 6-0, but Rosindo claimed the second 6-3. The New Zealander finished Mercer's number three player with another 6-0 beating. King also seemed to have it easy in his first and third set, as he won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Freshman Saltsgaver capped off Appalachian's singles sweep with a well fought 6-4, 7-5 battle at the No. 6 position versus Elbert Beekman.
The Mountaineers now get to rest for a day in Florida before the team heads to Daytona Beach, Fla. to face Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday afternoon.
The Citadel 6, Case Western Reserve 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel captured their first win of the season on Monday afternoon in a 6-1 rout of Case Western Reserve in tennis action.
The Bulldogs (1-7) captured the doubles point after winning two of the three necessary matches, fueled by the comeback of Josh Cook and Elliott Sperr at the No. 3 doubles position. The Spartans took the first match with a win at No. 2 doubles spot, then the Cadets knotted the match with a victory at the No. 1 position.
Derek Dickey and David Orces pulled themselves from a 3-2 deficit and rallied for two straight points to go up 4-2 after the break. Both teams then traded points, but the Bulldogs maintained the lead and eventually earned an 8-6 victory. Doubles action would be decided by the winner on court three.
The Spartans had an early 5-1 advantage but the pesky Bulldog duo wouldn't back down. Cook and Sperr cut the deficit to one point before tying the match at seven all. The two teams rallied back and forth with Case taking the lead. The Citadel then re-tied the match. Deadlocked at eight points apiece, the match went into a tiebreak. The Bulldogs rallied for a 7-4 advantage and captured the match with a score of 9-8.
In singles action, Case Western (4-4) tied the match up with a quick win at the No. 6 singles position as the Spartans' Eric Klawitter defeated Sperr 6-2, 6-2. The Cadets recaptured the lead after Orces downed Sean Carr at the No. 1 singles slot with a 6-1, 6-4 decision, then extended the lead with a victory at the No. 2 spot by Dillon Berkabile, 6-1, 6-2.
At the No. 3 singles slot, freshman James Atkinson lost the first set to Rohan Patel, 6-2. Atkinson then forced the match to a third set after he dominated the second with a 6-0 victory. Atkinson clinched the match and sealed the win for the Bulldogs in the final set with a score of 6-3.
To conclude the match, Cook and Dickey also went to three sets at the fourth and fifth singles positions,
respectively. Dickey defeated his opponent 7-6, 7-9, 6-2, and Cook followed, earning his victory by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (11-9).
The Citadel will continue their home stretch with a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 9. The Bulldogs will first host James Madison University at 9 a.m., followed by the University of South Carolina at 2 p.m.
College of Charleston 6, Gonzaga 1
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - College of Charleston men's tennis finished its spring break trip on a high note with a 6-1 win over Gonzaga at the LMU Tennis Center in Los Angeles.
The Cougars (4-3) swept the doubles matches. Top-seeded pair of senior Lukas Koncilia and sophomore Kyle Parker captured its fourth straight doubles victory, 8-3, at the top spot. Junior Tom Delme and sophomore Stephen Hardy defeated Bulldog tandem of Jake Davis and Muzeen Ismath, 8-1 for their sixth win on of the season. Senior Mickael Boyer and junior Mickael Trintignac also picked up an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 spot.
Charleston claimed five of the six singles matches, with Delme, Parker and Harden winning in straight sets at the third, fourth and sixth seeds, respectively. After claiming the first set 6-2, and dropping the second 6-3, Boyer rebounded with a 10-6 win in the third for his first singles win of the season at the No. 5 spot. Trintignac also won his match in the third set, 10-3. Koncilia forced his match to a third set before falling short, 10-6 in the third.
The Bulldogs fell to 3-8 with the loss.
The Cougars return to Charleston for a four-match stretch at home, beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. against No. 49 North Carolina State.