Samford 5, Eastern Kentucky 2
RICHMOND, KY. --- The Samford University men's tennis team handed the Eastern Kentucky Colonels its first home loss in over three years Saturday as the Bulldogs tallied a 5-2 non-conference victory against their former Ohio Valley Conference rivals at the Greg Adams Tennis Center.
With the win, Samford (5-2) improved to 3-0 in road matches this season and snapped Eastern Kentucky's (7-3) 38-match home winning streak, which dated back to Feb. 7, 2009. The Bulldogs' triumph also snapped the Colonels seven-match winning streak this season.
Samford garnered its second straight victory Saturday after the Bulldogs knocked off in-state rival Jacksonville State, 4-2, on Feb. 15.
In its historic win against Eastern Kentucky, Samford lost the doubles point, but then rallied for five singles victories from Carson Kadi, Elliot Barnwell, Fernando Costa, Alexander Sajonz and Ryan Shidler. Despite dropping the singles decision on court No. 1, the Bulldogs tallied wins on each of the bottom five courts of the competition.
Samford won all six tie-breakers, which included a super tie-breaker at No. 6 singles.
Kadi, Samford's senior from New Orleans, La., earned an 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 victory in the No. 2 singles matchup, while Barnwell outlasted Eastern Kentucky's Philip Janz in a three-set marathon on court No. 3, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5). With his key triumph, Barnwell improved to 6-1 in singles play this season.
Costa, the Bulldogs' sophomore from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, earned Samford's lone straight-set victory against the Colonels on Saturday. In the No. 4 singles contest, Costa rallied for a 7-6(3), 6-1 win against Eastern Kentucky's Parul Verma.
On courts No. 5 and 6, Samford received key victories from Sajonz and Shidler. The Bulldogs' Sajonz posted a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 triumph in the No. 5 contest, while Shidler knocked off the Colonels' Emilio Piriz, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 10-6 in the No. 6 singles matchup.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 9 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs remain in Richmond for a neutral site contest against the Morehead State Eagles. The match will also be held at the Greg Adams Tennis Center.
Chattanooga 6, Kennesaw State 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team posted a 6-1 win over Kennesaw State at the Champions Club today. The Mocs are 7-2 overall and off to their best start since the 2008 season while the Owls drop to 5-4.
Chattanooga jumped out to a 1-0 lead, winning all three doubles matches. Only junior Jackson Tresnan and freshman Pavels Grigorjevs were challenged in the first three matches. They won their No. 3 bout 8-6 to improve to 4-3 as a tandem.
The Mocs continued their strong play, winning the first set in five of the six singles matches. Grigorjevs was first off the court, defeating Alexander Pena (6-4, 6-4) at No. 6. Junior Manuel Barroetavena gave the Mocs a 3-0 lead with his (6-3, 6-3) win at No. 3.
The Owls tried to climb back in the match, winning at No. 3 and forcing a third set in two other matches. Junior Roberto Vieira put the match out of reach with his three-set win at No. 1. He moves to 10-7 overall and 6-3 in the spring.
Tresnan and fellow junior Chris Smith also had singles wins today. Smith moves to 7-2 in the spring while Tresnan leads the team with an 8-1 spring tally.
The Mocs are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 29, hosting Jacksonville State at the Champions Club. This match was originally scheduled as a road trip to Jacksonville, Ala., but has been moved to the Scenic City. Action begins at 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T) and will be another double-header with the women's teams.
South Carolina 6, Furman 1
COLUMBIA, S.C. -South Carolina downed Furman, 6-1, in men's tennis action Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead after sweeping the doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Ivan Machado and Chip Cox knocked off 49th-ranked sophomores Alex Christ and Joel cook in the top match, then Andrew Adams and Thiago Pinheiro defeated junior Andrew Mellow and freshman Jacob Behal, 8-5, at number two doubles. In the third doubles match, Kyle Koch and Ben Barnett beat sophomore Nate Collins and senior Watson George, 8-6.
Mellow put the Paladins on the board with a 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10) victory over Machado in the top singles match, but South Carolina swept the remaining singles slate. Adams defeated Christ, 6-3, 6-2, at number two, and Cox beat Behal, 6-3, 6-2, in the third singles match-up.
At number four singles, Koch came from behind for a three-set win over Cook, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4, and Carl Eguez posted a 6-1, 6-3 victory over junior Robbie Aru, 6-1, 6-3 in the fifth singles contest. Ben Barnett notched a 6-0, 6-1 win at six, facing junior Tyler Droll.
Furman (2-7) will play at Georgia Monday at 2:30 p.m.
East Tennessee State 6, Appalachian State 1
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Breaking a streak of three consecutive wins, Appalachian State University men's tennis fell to ETSU, 1-6, at Bristol Racquet Club on Saturday. The Mountaineers level out to 3-3 on the season, while the once nationally-ranked Buccaneers (1-8), earns their first win of the year.
ETSU was nationally-ranked in pre-season ITA rankings and began the week as the nation's No. 74 team before falling out of the top 75 in this week's reckoning. The win also marks the Bucs' ninth-straight in home openers.
In doubles action, Appalachian State seniors Alain Humblet and Alex Markov earned an 8-6 win in the No. 2 spot.
Vying for the doubles point, ASU's No. 1 pair of Philip Kloc and Sebastien King forced a tiebreaker, but ETSU edged out the Black and Gold, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
In singles, the Buccaneers relieved themselves from their early season woes, taking control of the match in dominant fashion. Though Markov and Humblet managed to force third sets, ETSU remained on top.
Senior Steve Karendal scored the Apps' only point of the match, taking his match courtesy of a retirement by his ETSU foe.
The Mountaineers return to Boone for their next match on Sunday, hosting Belmont at Deer Valley Racquet Club at 11 a.m.
ELON, N.C. - The Elon men's tennis team split a pair of matches under windy, cold conditions at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Phoenix earned a 6-1 victory over Queens to open the day before dropping a 4-3 decision to South Carolina State.
Elon is now 3-6 on the year.
Elon 6, Queens 1
Elon began the day by sweeping all three doubles matches versus the Royals to earn the point. Cameron Silverman and Jordan Kaufman defeated Raahil Dhruva and Christaan Lee-Daigle 8-4 while Andrew Prince and Christopher Geaslen earned an 8-5 win over Gustavo Munhoz and Andrew Bafume to clinch the point. Stefan Fortmann and Dan Sablik earned a 9-7 win over Joshua Bloch and Ignacio Casali at the two spot to complete the sweep for the Phoenix.
In singles, Prince defeated Casali 6-2, 6-1 while teammate Juan Madrid earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Dhruva on court four to give Elon a 3-0 edge. Silverman downed Lee-Daigle 6-4, 6-1 at number one and Geaslen claimed a 6-3, 6-2 win over Munhoz court six. At number two, Elon's Carlos Arboleda downed Joshua Bloch 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-7). Bafume earned the only point for Queens, downing Sablik 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-4).
South Carolina State 4, Elon 3
In the second match of the day, South Carolina State earned the doubles point after tallying victories at number two and three. On the third court, Thomas Bizon and Young Lee-Kwang defeated Geaslen and Kaufman, 8-3, before Anton Protsenko and Dmytro Kovalevych handed Fortmann and Madrid an 8-5 setback.
At number one doubles, Eric Turner and Siverman earned a win for the Phoenix with an 8-7 (7-4) victory over Peteris Vinogradovs and Artemiy Nikitin.
In singles play, Silverman earned a point for Elon with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Vishwesh Sinha at number one.
But South Carolina State regained the lead when Protsenko handed Turner 6-1, 6-2 setback court three.
Elon knotted the match at 2-all after Fortmann, now 7-3 on the season, claimed a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Kovalevych at number two.
But South Carolina State responded, as Vinogradovs defeated Kaufman 6-3, 6-4 before Nikitin downed Carlos Arboleda 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Bulldogs.
Prince picked up a hard-fought victory for the Phoenix on court six with a 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 1-0 (10-5) win over Jang Lee-Eun.
Elon returns to action on Saturday, March 3 when it opens Southern Conference play at College of Charleston.