UNCG 4, Elon 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - In a battle of the top two teams in the Southern Conference, Yaroslav Litus won a second-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles to clinch UNCG's 4-3 win over Elon on Wednesday and put the Spartans back on top of the league standings.
The Spartans moved to 14-4 overall and 7-1 in the SoCon, half a game clear of Elon (14-6, 6-1) and College of Charleston (12-5, 6-1), UNCG's next opponent.
In a rematch of last season's SoCon tournament title match - also won by the Spartans 4-3 - Litus won the first set against Eric Turner 7-5 and held what seemed like a comfortable 5-2 lead in the second set before Turner ripped off four straight games to take a 6-5 lead. Litus would answer by winning the next game to force a tiebreaker and won that 7-4 to clinch UNCG's third straight win against the Phoenix.
The Spartans had to win four singles matches to grab the win after being swept in doubles.
At No. 2, Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell won four of their final five games to down Litus and Jacob Wright, 8-4.
Orcun Seyrek and Timion Meijs seemed poised to knock off Elon's 49th-ranked tandem of Chase Helpingstine and Philip Nemec at No. 1, but the Phoenix duo rallied from a 6-5 deficit to take an 8-6 win.
Cameron Silverman and Turner completed the sweep at No. 3, downing Chanon Varapongsittikul and Ahmet Sarioglu, 8-7 (7-3).
The Phoenix made it a 2-0 match with Rojas' 6-2, 6-4 win over Varapongsittikul at No. 5 singles, but Sarioglu put UNCG on the board with his 6-4, 6-2 win over Helpingstine at No. 4.
Silverman, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, overcame a 5-2 deficit in the first set to take a 7-5, 6-1 win over Meijs at No. 2 to make it 3-1, putting Elon on the brink of the win.
The Spartans had other ideas, however, as Seyrek bounced back from a first-set loss to top Nemec 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1.
Wright wrapped up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Thomas Darling at No. 6 to tie the match at 3, shifting the crowd's focus to court No. 3, where Litus and Turner were battling it out to see which team would emerge atop the league standings.
College of Charleston 6, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston men's tennis recorded a 6-1 victory over crosstown rival The Citadel on Wednesday afternoon at Patriots Point.
The Cougars (12-5, 6-1 SoCon) are now tied with Elon for second in the Southern Conference standings. The Phoenix lost a 4-3 decision to UNC Greensboro, who now leads the league with a 7-1 mark, earlier today.
CofC swept the doubles matches to gain a 1-0 advantage going into singles competition. Senior Lukas Koncilia and sophomore Kyle Parker led the charge with an 8-2 win at the top spot. The pair boast a 10-6 mark on the season as the Cougars' top doubles team.
Junior Tom Delme and sophomore Stephen Hardy earned an 8-5 win at the No. 2 spot, while sophomore Billy Kenny joined junior Mickael Trintignac for the second time this season to defeat the Bulldogs' 8-4 as the third seed.
CofC picked up five points in singles competition with wins in the second through sixth positions. Trintignac and Hardy each recorded 6-1, 6-1 straight set victories at the No. 2 and No. 6 spots, respectively. Delme and Parker defeated their opponents at the third and fifth spots 6-1, 6-0.
Senior Mickael Boyer won his match in three sets which included a 10-point tiebreak. After falling 6-4 in the first set to opponent James Atkinson at the No. 5 spot before rebounding to win the next set 6-3. He navigated a close third set to earn a 10-8 victory for the match win, marking the third three-set victory for him this season.
The Citadel falls to 3-19 and remains winless in the SoCon (0-9).
Furman 4, Appalachian State 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman men's tennis team picked up its second league win in as many days after slipping past Appalachian State, 4-3, Wednesday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C. The Paladins defeated Wofford on the road on Tuesday.
The Paladins jumped out to an early lead, winning the doubles point after taking victories in the top two doubles matches. Senior Sawyer Duncan and sophomore Andrew Mellow teamed up for an 8-4 win over Alain Humblet and Philip Kloc at number one doubles, while sophomores Alex Christ and Joel Cook defeated Alex Markov and Sebastien King, 8-5, at number two doubles. The Mountaineers' Andrew McKinnon and Ezekiel Sansing posted an 8-7(7-3) win over freshman Marco Aru and senior Andrei Chvetsov in the third doubles contest.
In singles action, Kloc evened the score for Appalachian State after defeating Chvetsov, 6-1, 6-2 in the number three match-up. The Paladins then reeled off three-straight singles victories to clinch the team win. Christ defeated King, 6-4, 6-4, at number four singles, then Mellow recorded a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Humblet in the second singles match. Cook beat Matt Saltsgaver, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the team win for the Paladins in the sixth singles match.
Appalachian State's McKinnon defeated sophomore Robbie Aru, 7-5, 6-3, in the fifth singles match, then Markov tallied a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Duncan in the top singles spot.