Furman 6, Presbyterian 1
CLINTON, S.C. - The Furman men's tennis team netted its second-straight victory with a 6-1 win at Presbyterian Tuesday afternoon at the Templeton Tennis Courts in Clinton, S.C.
Paladin junior Tyler Droll and freshman Jacob Behal beat Nathan Crocker and Edward Snead, 8-6, in the number three doubles match to open play, before Presbyterian's Rafael Berghaus and Grayson Mills teamed up to defeat sophomores Alex Christ and Joel Cook, 8-5, in the top match to set up a decisive match at number two doubles. The match came down to the wire, as William O'Connell and Zachary Sprouse beat Paladin sophomore Nate Collins and senior Watson George, 9-8, to clinch the doubles point for the Blue Hose.
Furman came alive in singles action, sweeping the six matches in straight sets for the victory. Christ defeated Mills, 6-3, 6-4, at number one, and Behal beat Berghaus, 7-6, 6-2, at number two. In the third singles match, Cook defeated O'Connell, 6-1, 6-2, and junior Robbie Aru, notched a 6-2, 6-3 win over Andrew Brigham in the fourth singles match. Droll posted a 6-4, 6-0 win over Sprouse in the fifth singles match, and sophomore Sven Ivankovic defeated Ryan Walters, 6-1, 6-4, at number six.
Furman (2-6) will play at South Carolina Saturday at 10 a.m.
Radford 5, Elon 1
RADFORD, Va. - The Elon men's tennis team's difficult slate continued on Tuesday afternoon in chilly temperatures at Radford where the host Highlanders came away with a 5-1 victory over the Phoenix in non-conference action at RU Tennis Courts. Radford (3-1) proved a difficult place to play as the Highlanders have now won 47 of their last 49 home matches. The Phoenix dropped to 2-5 on the season.
The match began with singles competition and was played to decision as agreed upon by the two head coaches prior to the contest.
Freshman Stefan Fortmann improved upon his team-best singles record, moving to 5-2 on the season and picking up the lone point for the Phoenix with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 defeat of Igor Ogrizek at number two.
Radford won singles matches on courts three and four to open competition with Thomas Dehaen winning his 21st consecutive dual match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Elon's Jordan Kaufman at number four. In the top singles match, Cameron Silverman lost a 6-4, 6-2 decision to 62nd-ranked Nick Sayer.
The Highlanders clinched the match with Patrick O'Keefe's straight set win over Carlos Arboleda, 6-0, 6-3, at number six. Elon's Andrew Prince battled to force a third set at number five, but suffered a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 loss to Joe Mills.
Elon will defend its unbeaten home record this year when it hosts Queens and South Carolina State on Saturday, February 25 at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The first match begins at 9:30 a.m.
Charlotte 4, Wofford 2
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Wofford men's tennis team dropped a 4-2 decision to the Charlotte 49ers Tuesday afternoon at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex.
With the loss, the Terriers fall to 1-5 overall, while the 49ers improve to 6-2 on the season.
Wofford jumped to an early advantage as the pairing of Tinus Van Wyk and Rob Galloway defeated Jack Williams and Alex Calott (8-6) at the No. 1 position and the team of Jackson Keith and Walker Heffron defeated Kamil Khalil and Krzysztof Kwasniewicz (9-8(4)) at the No. 2 position to claim the doubles point and take a 1-0 advantage headed into singles play.
Charlotte fought back in singles play, taking four singles matches to earn the overall victory. At the No. 4 position, Rob Galloway fought back after dropping the first set to defeat Paul Cisti (5-7, 6-3, 6-4). The match at No. 6 singles between Walker Heffron and Nate Shanok was not completed.
The Terriers will take a week off from competition before returning to action next Tuesday afternoon at Gardner-Webb. The match is slated for a start time of 2:30 p.m. in Boiling Springs, N.C.