College of Charleston 4, Samford 3
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - It was a battle of the two remaining unbeatens in Southern Conference play as senior Tom Delme led the College of Charleston men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory over Samford on Friday afternoon at the CofC Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
It was sweet revenge for the Cougars (8-3, 3-0 SoCon), who fell short of an NCAA Tournament bid to the Bulldogs (11-3, 5-1), in the finals of last year's SoCon Tennis Championships. CofC now holds sole possession of first place in the latest league standings.
With the match leveled at three-all, Delme fended off Samford's Carson Kadi in a three-setter, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 2 singles. CofC would have to gain ground after dropping two of the three doubles matches in the early going.
Delme and freshman Alon Faiman were the lone victors in doubles with an 8-3 decision over the Samford duo of Elliot Barnwell and Ryan Shidler at the No. 2 line.
Faiman quickly equalized the match at one-all with a straight-set victory over Shidler which included a love second set, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 6 singles. Sophomore Crescente Lesser and senior Mickael Trintignac also contributed to the winning cause at No. 4 and No. 1 respectively.
UNCG 5, Furman 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. - UNCG's men's tennis team picked up a 5-2 win over Furman on Friday at the Mickel Tennis Center, with senior Orcun Seyrek clinching the match with a win over 110th-ranked Andrew Mellow.
The Spartans improved to 7-8 overall and 4-1 in Southern Conference play. Furman fell to 4-12 overall and 1-2 in the league.
UNCG got off to a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Cameron Smith and Jimmy Roueche rolled to an easy 8-1 win over Nate Collins and Watson George at No. 3, and Seyrek and Ahmet Sarioglu clinched the point with an 8-4 win over Alex Christ and Joel Cook at No. 1.
At No. 2, Furman's Mellow and Tyler Droll edged Randy Phillips and Chanon Varapongsittikul 9-7 to snap the Spartan duo's five-match winning streak.
In singles play, Sarioglu made it a 2-0 match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Christ at No. 2. Cook pulled the Paladins back within a point with a 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 win over Phillips, who was making his first career appearance at No. 3.
Varapongsittikul, who swapped positions with Phillips, won his first match of the season at No. 4, downing Jacob Behal by a 6-4, 6-2 count.
Seyrek then clinched it with the win over Mellow at No. 1, overcoming a first-set loss for the 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory.
Furman's Droll dropped Roueche at No. 6, 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8), and UNCG's Smith handed Robbie Aru a 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7) loss at No. 5 to close things out.
Chicago 4, The Citadel 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - David Orces, Josh Cook and Peter Bleach earned victories for The Citadel, but Chicago narrowly edged the Bulldogs 4-3 in a non-conference tennis match on Friday. The Citadel dropped to 4-12 while the Maroons improved their record to 8-6.
Orces continued his winning streak as he defeated Troy Brinker 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles position. The Bulldog junior has won six consecutive matches in the No. 1 slot for the Dogs and is 9-4 in dual matches.
In the No. 2 position, Cook earned his third singles victory of the season and his first home win to improve his record to 3-12. The Bulldog senior defeated Jan Stefanski in straight sets 7-6, 6-3.
Bleach, in the No. 5 spot, also earned his first singles home victory of the season as he took down Zsolt Szabo 6-3, 6-0. The Bulldog freshman is now 2-12 on the season.
Although James Atkinson and Elliott Sperr, in the No. 3 and No. 5 spots, respectively, did not earn a point for The Citadel they each battled in three grueling sets against their Chicago rivals.
The duo of Bleach and Dillon Berkabile competed together for the first time this season and earned a win in the No. 2 doubles spot. The Dogs were not able to take the doubles point, but it came down to the wire in doubles No. 3 as the Bulldog tandem of Sperr and Alex Howle could not hold off their Maroons foe.
The Bulldogs don't have much time off as they return to the courts tomorrow at a new scheduled time of 12 p.m., against Chattanooga at the Earle Tennis Center.