UNCG 4, Georgia Southern 3
STATESBORO, Ga. - UNCG staged an incredible rally for its first Southern Conference win of the season, rebounding from dropping the doubles point and the first sets in four singles matches to claim a 4-3 win at Georgia Southern in the league opener for both teams.
The teams battled for more than five hours at the Eagles' Hanner Tennis Complex, fighting winds reaching 20 miles per hour as four of the six singles matches went to third sets.
Freshman Cameron Smith clinched the win for the Spartans (4-5, 1-0 SoCon) at No. 5 singles, rallying from a 4-2 deficit in his third set to take the hotly contested 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-5 win over Marco Osorio.
The Eagles (1-9, 0-1 SoCon) had the early 1-0 lead thanks to wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. Osorio and Daniel Rush took an 8-2 win over Chanon Varapongsittikul and Randy Phillips at No. 2, but Orcun Seyrek and Ahmet Sarioglu pulled the Spartans level with an 8-6 over Alain Garrido and Andrew Dromsky at No. 1. Kyle Hoffman and Albert Codina Sala clinched the point for GSU with an 8-5 win over Smith and Jimmy Roueche at No. 3.
Georgia Southern carried that momentum into singles play, winning the first sets at Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6. Rush wrapped up his 6-0, 6-1 win over Roueche at No. 6 first, giving GSU a 2-0 lead.
Sarioglu finally got the Spartans on the board at No. 2, storming back with 6-1 wins in the second and third sets after dropping the first by a 6-3 count to Hoffman.
Phillips evened the match at 2 apiece with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Dromsky at No. 4, and Seyrek put UNCG on top for the first time on the afternoon with a 7-5, 7-6 (10-8) win over Garrido at No. 1.
Sala tied the match at No. 3, rebounding from a second-set loss to take the 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win over Varapongsittikul and putting the fate of the match into the hands of Smith and Osorio at No. 5.
Elon 7, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Elon men's tennis team started off Southern Conference play in the right direction, claiming a 7-0 victory at The Citadel today, March 4. The Phoenix is now 4-6 (1-0 SoCon) on the season, while the Bulldogs drop to 4-3 (0-1).
Stefan Fortmann and Jordan Kaufman picked up a commanding 8-1 win at number two doubles against Dillion Berkabile and James Atkinson. At number three, Christopher Geaslen and Andrew Prince defeated Elliott Sperr and Alex Howie, 8-2. Cameron Silverman and Eric Turner also picked up a win for the Phoenix, 8-4, at number one over David Ocres and Peter Bleach. The doubles sweep gave the Phoenix a 1-0 edge heading into singles play.
In singles play, Fortmann made quick work of Josh Cook at number two, winning 6-2, 6-0. Silverman also won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0, on court one over Ocres.
At number six, Prince earned the 6-4, 6-2 decision against Sperr, while Juan Madrid defeated Berkabile, 7-6, 6-4, at number four.
After a big 6-1 first-set victory, Turner dropped the second set, 7-6, to Bleach at number three. Turner won the tight third set, 7-6, to get the victory. Kaufman defeated Atkinson at number five, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, for the Phoenix to sweep all the matches.
Elon returns to The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Saturday, March 10, for its first home SoCon match against Chattanooga at noon.
Central Florida 5, Davidson 2
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Wildcats improved to 16-6 in doubles action by winning the doubles point for the sixth straight match, but it was not enough as Davidson fell 5-2 on the road to Central Florida on Sunday afternoon at the UCF Tennis Complex.
The 'Cats (3-5) were playing Central Florida for the first time in program history. The day started out well as the No. 57 doubles team of Calum Gee and Joe Schafer rolled to an 8-1 victory for their fifth straight win. The duo, who started the year ranked 19th in the country, improved to 6-1 on the season, all at No. 1 doubles.
Davidson picked up the doubles point when Chris Mark and Connor Evins tallied their sixth win in a row together with an 8-5 triumph at No. 3. The pair are a perfect 6-0 on the season, with five of those wins coming at No. 3.
UCF (4-6) came back and took five of the six singles matches though to score the team win. Robert Lightbourn was the lone Wildcat player to score a singles win, improving to 3-4 after a solid 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 5 over Juan Bolona.
Evins played a strong match, taking Joe Delinks down to the wire in both his sets at No. 6. The sophomore fell 7-5 in the first set, but nearly forced a third-set when he got to a tie-breaker, but fell in the end.
Schafer also had a good match, but came up just short in a three-set affair. Playing his second three-set match of the season, the junior traded 6-4 decisions with Erik Brunskog at No. 2, forcing the third set. Schafer fell short in the end with a 6-1 setback for his fourth defeat of the season in singles action.
Davidson continues its six-match road swing with matches March 3-4 at Georgia Southern and Central Florida.