No. 39 South Carolina 6, Furman 1
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The 39th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks pushed past Furman, 6-1, Saturday in men's tennis action at the USC Field House in Columbia, S.C. Paladin junior Alex Christ posted a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over Chip Cox at number two singles in Furman's lone win of the day.
The Gamecocks clinched the doubles point to open the match. The duo of Thiago Pinheiro and Ben Barnette grabbed an early 8-0 victory over Paladin sophomores Luke Synn and Jacbo Behal at number three, then Cox and Tsvetan Mihov combined for an 8-4 victory over senior Andrew Mellow and junior Joel Cook in the top-seeded match. The second doubles match between Furman freshman Matt Browne and Christ and Gamecocks Kyle Koch and Harry Menzies was stopped with the score knotted at six following the completion of the decisive doubles match.
In other singles action, South Carolina won five out of six matches, as Mihov defeated Mellow 6-2, 6-0 at flight one, and Koch beat Cook, 6-2, 6-4, at flight three. In the number four singles match, Pinheiro recorded a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Behal, while Menzies came away with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Browne. Barnette defeated Paladin freshman Ben Horst, 6-1, 6-3, at flight six to conclude the match.
Furman (1-3) will play at Florida on February 3 at noon.
North Carolina 7, Wofford 0
Chapel Hill, N .C. - The Wofford men's tennis was defeated in their first match of the 2013 season on the road at #18 North Carolina Saturday afternoon.
In doubles play, North Carolina won all three matches to claim the doubles point. On the singles side, David Sklar faced off against Maik Ulrich at the No. 6 position. Sklar gave Ulrich all he could handle in two sets, but eventually fell 6-4, 6-2. The Tar Heels won the remaining five matches in straight sets to claim the 7-0 victory.
The Terriers return to action Friday January 25th when they host the Eagles of Winthrop at the Reeves Tennis Center on campus.
Duke 9, Elon 0
DURHAM, N.C. - The Elon University men's tennis team opened its 2013 spring slated today, Jan. 19, against fifth-ranked Duke, as the Phoenix dropped a 9-0 decision to the nationally ranked Blue Devils inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The two squads played eight singles matches in addition to the typical three-match doubles format.
The match of the day was a rematch from ITA Carolina Regional in Cary, N.C., from this past October, featuring Elon's 21st-ranked Cameron Silverman and Duke's 11th-ranked Henrique Cunha. Silverman won the last meeting between the two standouts, but fell to Cunha on his home court today, dropping a 6-2, 6-3 decision. Silverman topped Cunha in October when Cunha was ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Stefan Fortmann, ranked 117th in the nation, was the lone Elon player to win a set versus the Blue Devils today, going three sets with 23rd-ranked Fred Saba. After winning the first set, 6-4, Fortmann dropped the next two, 6-4, 5-3.
Jordan Kaufman battled tough with Duke's 123rd-ranked Jason Tahir, but fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
The doubles tandem of Juan Madrid and Robert Lindgren battled tough versus Duke's 37th-ranked team of Fred Saba and Chris Mengel, but suffered an 8-5 setback.
Silverman and Fortmann, ranked 22nd in the nation as a doubles team, dropped an 8-2 decision to Cunha and Raphael Hemmeler. Cunha and Hemmeler are the top-ranked doubles team in the nation.
The Phoenix returns to action on Jan. 30 in Buies Creek, N.C., when it takes on Campbell.
No. 39 South Carolina 5, Appalachian State 0
COLUMBIA, S.C.- Appalachian State University men's tennis showed effort, but No.39 South Carolina came out ahead on Saturday afternoon, as the Mountaineers fell 0-5 to the Gamecocks in their opening match of 2013.
The day proved to be a tough start for the Apps at USC Field House, as the Gamecocks swept through doubles competition. Steven Karendal and Andrew McKinnon fell at the No. 2 spot after strong performances from USC's Kyle Koch and Harry Menzies. The Gamecocks managed to clinch the victory after playing another 8-2 set against Steve Lake and Robert Jenkins. Sebastien King and Zach Bost were locked at 5-5 against Tsvetan Mihov and Chip Cox when play was halted.
The Black & Gold faced a challenge in singles action as well. Appalachian's Matt Saltsgaver fell in a quick 6-1, 6-1 loss to Menzies at the No. 4 position, putting the Gamecocks ahead 2-0. Karendal dropped a 6-1, 6-2 loss to South Carolina's Cox at the No. 2 spot. Bost led early in the second set, but Kyle Koch fought to come back and force a tiebreaker, winning the No. 3 position 7-6 (2). King proved pretty well matched against Tsvetan Mihov, but was unable to hang at the No. 1 spot, after Mihov pulled ahead in a 6-3, 6-3 final.
Up next, men's tennis heads to Wilmington, N.C. on Jan. 21 to face UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m., before returning to Boone to host Presbyterian College on Jan. 26 at 1 p.m.
Clemson 7, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson men's tennis team started its Spring season against nationally-ranked Clemson at home and the Tigers got the best of the Wildcats, 7-0, Saturday afternoon in the Knobloch Tennis Center.
Davidson (0-1) was playing No. 60 Clemson (1-0) for the third time since 2010, falling to 0-3.
The Tigers took the doubles point to open the match, scoring 8-4 and 8-1 wins at No. 2 and 3, while they led 7-4 at the No. 1 spot over Davidson's top team of Chris Mark and Kevin Moore.
The Wildcats played tough in all six singles matches, but came up short to give Clemson the 7-0 win. Sophomore Nicky Kunz scored eight games as he battled Hunter Harrington to a 6-3, 7-5 decision.
Robert Lightbourn played well at No. 4, falling in a close 6-3, 7-6 match to Zachary Rigsby, while freshman Alex Howard saw his first collegiate action with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Austin Ansari at No. 6.
Davidson takes some time off before continuing on its four-match homestand to start the 2013 season when it battles Wingate and Presbyterian in a doubleheader, Feb. 2.
Virginia Tech 6, College of Charleston 1
BLACKSBURG, VA. - The College of Charleston men's tennis team was defeated 6-1 by No. 43 Virginia Tech (2-0) at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg, Va.
The highlight of the day for the Cougars (0-1) was freshman Zack Lewis winning his first match of the spring over Joao Monteiro of Viriginia Tech 6-4, 5-7. 1-0(9) in No. 5 singles.
Sophomore Sebastian Lopez also played a very close three-set match against No. 52-ranked Amerigo Contini of the Hokies, falling 3-6, 6-2, 4-6 in the No. 2 singles slot.
The Cougars faced some of the most difficult competition they will see this season as the Hokies boast the No. 52 and No. 29 singles players in the nation, as well as the No. 15 doubles team.
The Cougars will look to rebound on Saturday, Jan. 26, when they head up to North Carolina to take on Catawba and Belmont Abbey in a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. (ET).