Furman 5, Chattanooga 2
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - Junior Robbie Aru came from behind for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory at number five singles to lead the Furman men's tennis team to a 5-2 victory over Chattanooga Sunday at the UTC Tennis Courts in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Paladin juniors Andrew Mellow and Tyler Droll combined for an 8-4 win over Sam Parfitt and Stephen Crofford at number three doubles, then M. Barroetavena and Jackson Tresnan evened the match with an 8-5 victory over sophomore Nate Collins and senior Watson George in the second doubles match. In the decisive top match, sophomores Joel Cook and Alex Christ claimed an 8-6 Paladin win over Roberto Vieira and Ankit Chopra to clinch the doubles point.
In singles action, Cook gave the Paladins a 2-0 advantage with a quick 6-3, 6-4 win over Chris Smith at number three, before Christ claimed a 6-3, 6-4 win over Chopra at number two to put Furman in control, 3-0. Barroetavena put the Mocs (10-4, 2-2 SoCon) on the board after defeating Behal, 7-5, 6-2, in the fourth-seeded match, and Pavels Grigorjevs came from behind to cut the deficit to 3-2 with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 triumph over junior Tyler Droll. Aru clinched the winning point for the Paladins, then Mellow came from behind to add to the margin with a 5-7, 7-6, 4-0 win over Vieira in the top match.
Davidson 6, The Citadel 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Playing the first time at home since February 18, Davidson dominated in getting back to its winning ways by taking a 6-1 decision over The Citadel on Sunday afternoon in Southern Conference men's tennis at the Covington Tennis Courts.
Davidson snapped a three-match skid to improve to 5-8 overall and evened its SoCon mark to 2-2. The Citadel fell to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in league play.
Every Wildcat that played on the afternoon scored a win as they took all three doubles spots and five of the six singles slots.
The match started out with three fairly close doubles matches. The pair of Kevin Moore and Robert Lightbourn picked up their second straight win together with an 8-4 win at No. 3. Chris Mark and Connor Evins won 8-6 at No. 2 to run their record to an outstanding 9-2 on the year (3-1 vs. SoCon).
The No. 1 team of Calum Gee and Joe Schafer snapped out of a losing funk by closing out the doubles matches with an 8-7 triumph. The pair had dropped their last four matches, but improved to 7-5 with the decision.
Mark, Gee, Lightbourn and Evins each rolled to straight-set wins in singles action. The junior Mark broke his six-match losing skid with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3. The Wildcats' No. 4 player, Gee, won his fourth singles match of the season after a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Three of those wins have come against league foes.
Lightbourn won his second straight over the weekend, evening his overall singles record to 6-6 after a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Elliot Sperr at No. 5. Evins pushed his team-best win streak to five in a row when he tallied a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 6. The sophomore remained perfect in SoCon matches at 4-0 (6-2 overall).
Freshman Nicky Kunz rounded out the singles winners for Davidson by scoring a 6-2, 6-2 decision at No. 2 over Josh Cook. The win was his team-leading eighth of the year.
South Carolina 6, College of Charleston 1
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Senior Mickael Trintignac won a hard-fought 12-point third-set super tiebreaker at No. 1 singles, but it wasn't enough as the College of Charleston men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision on the road at No. 48-ranked South Carolina on Sunday afternoon at the Carolina Tennis Center.
The Cougars (7-3) saw their five-match win streak come to end. However, all three of their losses of the season have come against nationally-ranked opponents in No. 66 Clemson (4-3) on Jan. 15 and No. 70 Georgia State (5-2) on Feb. 26.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks (12-5) improved to 22-1 in the all-time series with CofC. It marked the first meeting between the two in-state schools since 2004.
Trintignac, who defeated South Carolina's top player Nick Jones, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10), also combined with junior Kyle Parker for the other Cougar victory of the match as they upended the No. 64-ranked duo of Jones and Chip Cox, 8-3, at the No. 1 line. They currently own a team-best 9-1 mark at No. 1 doubles.
Parker and sophomore Brice Allanic also had close three-setters against No. 117-ranked Thiago Pinheiro and Kyle Koch at No. 3 and No. 5 singles respectively.
"We had some chances today," CofC Head Coach Jay Bruner said. "We came out and played well in the doubles. Guga (Trintignac) and Kyle have been playing well this season and had a great win against a ranked doubles team. Our intensity was great, but South Carolina is a good team and had more fire power than us.
"The doubles point was big. We had three really strong matches in singles, but they were better than us in other spots. The team played well and fought hard. Guga stayed out there and put in his work and was rewarded for his fight (at No. 1 singles)."
CofC will return to Southern Conference action with a Friday, March 23, dual match scheduled against Samford at 2 p.m. (ET) at the CofC Tennis Center at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.