CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Elon, Samford, Furman and College of Charleston all won quarterfinal matchups at the 2011 Southern Conference Men's Tennis Championships Thursday afternoon at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
No. 1 seed Elon swept Chattanooga, 4-0, to earn a spot Friday's semifinals. Elon's Philip Nemec and Chase Helpingstine posted an 8-1 win over William Disterdick and Chris Smith at No. 1 doubles before Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell topped Stephen Crofford and Jackson Tresnan, 8-4 at No. 2 doubles to give the Phoenix doubles point. Helpingstine then knocked off Rick van de Bovenkamp at No. 4 singles to push Elon (18-6) ahead, 2-0. Rojas came away with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tresnan at No. 3 singles before Carolos Arboleda topped Crofford, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 to clinch the match for Elon. Chattanooga finished the year 8-16.
The No. 5-seeded Samford Bulldogs (18-4) slipped past No. 4 seed Appalachian State, 4-2. The Bulldogs took two of three doubles points to stake an early 1-0 lead in the match. ASU's Matt Saltsgaver pulled the Mountaineers (15-7) even with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alexander Sajonz at No. 6 singles. Carson Kadi put Samford back in front with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alex Markov at the top singles slot. Alain Humblet tied the match 2-2 when he pulled away from Carl Abalos, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, at No. 3 singles. Samford's Fernando Costa and Oliver Reynolds came away with straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively to take the 4-2 decision.
Elon will meet Samford in one semifinal Friday afternoon. The second semifinal will feature College of Charleston taking on Furman.
The No. 6 seed Paladins (9-17) upset No. 3 UNCG, 4-1. Furman's No.1 and No. 3 doubles teams posted identical 8-4 wins to give the Paladins the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead. Ahmet Sarioglu gave UNCG its only point of the match when he topped Tyler Droll, 6-1, 6-2. From there it was all Furman as the Paladins won the next three singles matches. Joel Cook topped Chanon Varapongsittikul, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5 singles. Alex Christ came away with a straight sets win (6-1, 6-4) over Yaroslav Litus at No. 3 singles. Sawyer Duncan's 6-4, 6-4, victory over Orcun Seyrek at No. 1 singles sent the Paladins through to the semifinals where they will meet College of Charleston. UNCG, last year's tournament champion, finished the season 15-6.
No. 2 seed College of Charleston earned the final berth in the semifinals with a 4-0 win over the tenth-seeded Davidson Wildcats. CofC (16-5) took two of three matches in doubles to earn the point. Davidson's Chris Mark and Kevin Moore downed Mickael Trintignac and Billy Kenny, 8-2 at No. 3 doubles before CofC responded with wins at No. 1 and No 2. Lukas Koncilia and Kyle Parker scored an 8-3 decision over Calum Gee and Joe Schafer at the top doubles slot. The Cougars earned the point when Tom Delme and Stephen Hardy beat Walker Lyons and Ethan Kallick, 8-6 at No. 2.
Delme won 6-0, 6-3 over Arie Hefter at No. 3 singles, while Trintignac handled Mark, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Boyer won a straight-sets decision over decision over Gee at No. 4 to give the Cougars the victory. Davidson finished the season
7-18.
Men's action resumes at the Champions club Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.