Wake Forest 7, Furman 0
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - No. 41 Wake Forest blanked Furman, 7-0, in the Paladins' 2012 men's tennis season opener Sunday afternoon at the indoor tennis center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Demon Deacons swept the doubles matches to take the doubles point. David Hopkins and Amogh Prabhakar combined for an 8-4 victory over Paladin freshman Jacob Behal and junior Andrew Mellow in the number one spot, while Danny Kreyman and Adam Lee notched an 8-3 win over Furman sophomores Joel Cook and Nate Collins at number two doubles. In the third doubles match, Alex Tsai and Conner Sherwood teamed up to defeat Paladin junior Tyler Droll and senior Watson George, 8-3.
Dreyman, ranked #115 nationally, defeated Mellow, 6-1, 6-2 at number one singles, and Hopkins beat Cook, 6-4, 6-1 in the second singles match-up. Prabhakar won the first set, 6-3, over Behal in the third singles match, but Behal came away with a 6-4 win in the second set to force a deciding third set. Prabhakar held on for a 6-2 victory for the match win. At number four singles, Lee defeated junior Robbie Aru, 7-5, 7-6 (11-9). Sherwood defeated Droll, 7-5, 6-3 in the fifth singles contest, and Tsai beat sophomore Sven Ivankovic, 6-1, 6-4, at number six singles.
Furman (0-1) will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., next weekend, where the Paladins will face UAB Saturday at 9 a.m. then play South Alabama Saturday at 4 p.m. On Sunday, Furman will take on Florida State at noon.
Clemson 4, College of Charleston 3
CLEMSON, S.C. - In its spring season opener, the College of Charleston men's tennis team was edged by Clemson in a tightly-contested 4-3 dual match held Sunday afternoon at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center's Indoor Complex.
The Cougars (0-1) gained the early edge as their No. 2 and No. 3 tandems helped claim the doubles point leading into singles play. Junior Kyle Parker and senior Mickael Trintignac combined to defeat Clemson's Ayrton Wibowo and Hunter Harrington, 9-7, at the No. 2 line, while sophomore newcomers Brice Allanic and Crescente Lesser dispatched Dominique Maden and Cedric Wellems, 8-6, at No. 3.
Due to playing indoors, CofC and Clemson (1-0) played its top four lines first with four courts available. Senior Tom Delme tied the match at two-all with a three-set victory over Ayrton Wibowo, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 2.
Clemson's top player Yannick Maden got past Trintignac in three sets, but Allanic leveled the match again winning a three-setter against Harrington, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, at No. 5. In the last match standing, junior Stephen Hardy fell to Cedric Wellems, 7-6, 6-2, for the deciding point at No. 6.
"It was a competitive match, but we were unable to pull it out," CofC Head Coach Jay Bruner said. "I thought our effort was good for our first match of the season. I like the way we came out to compete today. Clemson is one of the stronger teams we will play against this year and is the type of match we need to play more. We gave ourselves a chance to be in a position to win today. Ultimately, Clemson was a little bit stronger than us, but it was a fun way to start off the season."
The Cougars will return to action next month with a road trip to Mercer on Feb. 4 in Macon, Ga.
Elon at Duke Invitational
DURHAM, N.C. - The Elon University men's tennis team wrapped up day two of the Duke Invitational against the No. 20 North Carolina Tar Heels at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
In this points event, each player has the opportunity to earn points based upon the position in which he is playing in the ladder. For example, a win at number one singles would earn the player eight points while a win at number two would be worth seven points. The same applies for the four doubles pairings.
Elon's top duo of Cameron Silverman and Eric Turner fell just short of a victory, 8-6, against the Tar Heel's Joey Burkhardt and Brennan Boyajian. At number two doubles, UNC's Jose Hernandez and Esben Hess-Olesen defeated the Phoenix's Stefan Fortmann and Andrew Prince, 8-5.
On court three, Elon freshmen Jordan Kaufman and Dan Sablik fell to Zach Hunter and Oystein Steiro by a final of 8-1, while the maroon and gold's Carlos Arboleda and Christopher Geaslen dropped an 8-3 decision to Cameron Ahari and William Parker at number four.
In singles play, Silverman fell to Hernandez, the 30th ranked player in the country, at number one, 6-1, 6-2.
Fortmann claimed seven points for the Phoenix at the number two spot by defeating Boyajian, 6-1, 6-3.
At number three, Turner played a close first set against Hess-Olesen but was not able to pull out the win, falling 6-4, 6-3. UNC picked up wins on courts four and five as Parker defeated Kaufman (6-2, 6-3) and Rafiee defeated Arboleda (6-2, 6-2).
In a match for two points, Meyer claimed a win over Prince, 6-1, 6-4, at the seventh spot. UNC's Coxe claimed the finals single match with a 6-3, 3-0 victory over Gealsen.