Elon 6, Georgia Southern 1
ELON, N.C. - Four Elon men's tennis seniors went out with a bang on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center as the Phoenix won its 16th match of the season with a 6-1 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles on Senior Day. With a win at Appalachian State in the final Southern Conference match of the season this Thursday, Elon (16-6, 8-1) will earn at least a share of the league crown as well as the top seed in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. Georgia Southern fell to 10-10 on the year and 2-6 in the league.
All three doubles matches ended in 50 minutes or less as Elon only dropped a combined five games in the three contests. Senior duo Chase Helpingstine and Philip Nemec won five straight games en route to an 8-1 win, finishing off Derrick Davison and Alain Garrido in 35 minutes. The Elon pair has not suffered a loss since January and is now 17-1 on the season with a perfect league mark. Nemec owns 69 career doubles wins during his time at Elon, the most by a player during the school's Division I era.
The Phoenix's other senior tandem of Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell was next off the courts with an 8-2 defeat of Juan Melian Puigventos and Sebastien Felt. Finally, Cameron Silverman and Eric Turner completed the sweep by matching the score on court two, rolling by Mark Paetz and Edio Castenhel, 8-2. The duo is still perfect in the SoCon with an 8-0 conference mark.
Elon headed to singles play with the 1-0 lead for the 10th consecutive match. For the fifth straight match, Rojas was the first Phoenix off the courts as he turned in a 6-3, 6-0 decision against Castenhel at number four. The win was Rojas' 14th of the year and he remained unbeaten against league foes at 9-0. Stauffer-MacDowell played at number six for Elon and got his first SoCon victory of the season, making it look easy with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Davison to give the Phoenix a 3-0 advantage.
In fitting fashion, a senior clinched the match for Elon as Helpingstine was the third senior off the courts with a 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Felt at number five. On court three, Turner had little trouble adding to the Elon lead, posting a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Paetz. Elon's first four singles wins all came in 80 minutes or less.
Georgia Southern picked up its first point at the number one singles slot as Puigventos managed to defeat Nemec, 6-3, 6-4 for the Eagles' lone point of the match.
Silverman gave Elon its final point of the day as the rookie won his sixth match in a row with a comeback win against Garrido at number two. After dropping the first set 6-4, Silverman forced a tiebreaker with his 6-2 second-set win. In the breaker, Silverman had four match points, losing three and holding off one of Garrido's before winning the super tiebreaker and the match, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10).
The Phoenix controls its own destiny in the race for the SoCon title as Elon and College of Charleston sit atop the league standings with only one loss apiece.
Wofford 6, Chattanooga 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's tennis team played against the Chattanooga Mocs Sunday afternoon and beat their Southern Conference opposition, 6-1. The Terriers controlled the tempo of the match for the duration of the three hours and 45 minutes played, winning every doubles match and winning each singles match but one.
Coach Ray's squad moves to 8-10 overall on the year and improves to 4-4 in the SoCon. The Mocs fall to 7-14 with the loss and drop to 2-7 in SoCon play.
The Terriers dominated doubles play against Chattanooga, taking wins in ever doubles match. This marks the third time this season Wofford has swept the doubles point.
Michael Schecter and Jack Seiffert were first off the courts with an impressive 8-0 victory. Schecter and Seiffert earned their victory against UTC's Rick van de Bovenkamp and Jordan Faith at No. 3. At No. 1, Stuart Robertson and Tinus Van Wyk went down 1-2 in the beginning of the contest, but maintained a lead for the remainder of the match after winning the next two games and finishing with an 8-6 score. Van Wyk and Robertson currently have the most doubles wins as a pair with eight.
Seniors, Paul Bartholomy and Alan Donald, were last off the courts after taking their doubles match to a tie-breaker against UTC's Stephen Crofford and Jackson Tresnan. Bartholomy and Donald came out strong with a 4-1 start, but Crofford and Tresnan were able to tie the score up at 7-7 taking the match to a tie-breaker. Wofford came out on top in the tie-breaker, 7-2.
After taking the 1-0 overall lead, Bartholomy added another point to the board with a quick win in singles play against UTC's Orlando Lourenco. Bartholomy only gave up one game on the day, winning 6-1, 6-0. Donald was next off the courts after winning 6-2, 6-4 against UTC's Bovenkamp at No. 4. Donald held the lead throughout both sets and tallies a team-high ten singles wins with the victory.
Superstein added to his reputation as the closer for the Terriers after sealing the victory yet again for Wofford at the No. 5 slot. Superstein knocked off UTC's Crofford 6-3, 6-3 to give the Terriers their fourth point and overall win. This marks the fourth win in a row that Superstein has clenched the match and fifth match overall on the season that Superstein sealed the victory.
Robertson posted Wofford's fifth point with a victory against UTC's Disterdick on court three. Robertson beat Disterdick in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. At No. 1, Van Wyk was narrowly edged past as he lost his match in a super tie-breaker to UTC's Smith. After winning the second set 7-5 and losing the first set 6-4, Smith held out for the win in the tie-breaker, 10-6.
Schecter was the last Terrier off the courts after taking his match to a super tie-breaker as well. Schecter won the first set 6-3 and lost the second set 6-3 against UTC's Tresnan. Schecter won the last four points straight in the tie-breaker to grab a 10-6 win.
College of Charleston 7, Davidson 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston men's tennis completed its final home weekend with a 7-0 sweep of Davidson on Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point.
Seniors Mickael Boyer and Lukas Koncilia finished their careers on a high note with wins in singles and doubles against the Wildcats. Koncilia started the team on the right foot when he and sophomore Kyle Parker ran away with an 8-3 win at the top doubles spot.
Junior Tom Delme and sophomore Stephen Hardy clinched the doubles point for the Cougars with an 8-4 victory at the No.2 spot. The tandem have won the last five matches in a row and are 5-4 when playing on their home court. Sophomore Billy Kenny and junior Mickael Trintignac completed the sweep at doubles, defeating their opponents 8-6 as the third seed.
The Cougars (14-5, 8-1 SoCon) continued the path towards their fifth conference shutout with straight set victories at the second through sixth spots. Parker was the first to put a point on the board with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Walker Lyons at the No. 5 spot. Following suit, Trintignac earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory as the Cougars' second seed, followed by Hardy's match-clinching 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6.
Delme won his match against Calum Gee 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot to remain undefeated in conference action, alongside Hardy. Both players are on 11-match winning streaks while also sporting a 12-6 record at doubles.
Boyer and Koncilia were the final Cougars on the court in the last home match of their four-year careers. After escaping a difficult first set, 7-5, Boyer took command in the second to swiftly defeat Arie Hefter 6-2 in the second at the No. 4 spot. Koncilia earned a 6-3 first-set victory before falling behind 4-6 in the second. Remaining calm, he commanded the 10-point tie-break to earn a 10-4 win and his sixth three-set victory of the season.
Davidson fell to 6-16 and 2-7 in the conference. The Wildcats finish their season at Furman on Thursday.
The Cougars remain in a tie for first place in Southern Conference standings with Elon.
Appalachian State 4, Samford 3
BOONE, N.C. --- The Samford University men's tennis team came up just short in a hard-fought Southern Conference match on the road against the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Sunday as the Bulldogs dropped a 4-3 decision held at the ASU Tennis Courts.
Samford (14-6, 4-4 SoCon) swept all three doubles matches, but was defeated in four of the six singles contests.
Appalachian State (14-5, 6-2 SoCon) clinched Sunday's conference duel in singles play as Philip Kloc barely held on for a three-set win against the Bulldogs' Zac Dunkle. In the deciding contest held on court No. 2, Kloc won the first set 7-5 before Dunkle rallied for a 6-3 triumph in the second frame. To clinch the 4-3 victory for the Mountaineers, Kloc won the third set 7-5.
Samford opened the match with a trio of victories in doubles play to take an early 1-0 lead in the contest.
On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' combination of Oliver Reynolds and Carl Abalos tallied an 8-4 victory, while Samford's No. 2 doubles tandem of Alexander Sajonz and Dunkle registered an 8-7(10) triumph against Appalachian State's pairing of Alex Markov and Sebastien King. On court No. 3, the Bulldogs' duo comprised of Carson Kadi and Fernando Costa held on for a thrilling 9-8(2) win.
In singles play, the Mountaineers claimed a 2-1 lead in the match with victories on courts No. 1 and No. 6. Samford's Costa then evened the score at 2-2 with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph in the No. 5 singles contest.
Appalachian State recorded the next two singles wins to reach the decisive four-point mark in the match. The Mountaineers' King was victorious on court No. 4, while Kloc held on to clinch the win on court No. 2.
Samford's final singles triumph occurred in the No. 3 duel as Abalos rallied back for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory against Appalachian State's Alain Humblet. With his win, Abalos improved his singles record to 14-5 this season and made the final score of Sunday's match 4-3.
Costa, the Bulldogs' talented sophomore from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, moved his singles record on the season to 13-6 with his victory on court No. 5.