College of Charleston 4, Presbyterian 3
CLINTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's tennis team narrowly avoided defeat this afternoon when they squeezed by with a 4-3 victory over Presbyterian College at the Templeton Tennis Center in Clinton, S.C.
The doubles duo of senior Billy Kenny and freshman Zack Lewis kicked off the day for the Cougars (2-1) by winning their match 8-5 over Gonzalo Asis and Nathan Crocker of Presbyterian in the No. 3 position. Junior Brice Allanic and sophomore Sebastian Lopez then managed to clinch the doubles point for the College by topping Presbyterian's Rafael Berghaus and Grayson Mills 8-4 in the No. 1 slot.
In singles play, the Cougars got off to a slow start when Presbyterian's Danny Bruce defeated Zack Lewis 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 5 position. However, CofC rallied back behind wins by Allanic in the No. 1 slot and sophomore Charlie Ghriskey in No. 4 singles. Then, Lopez clinched the match for the Cougars when he overcame William O'Connell of Presbyterian 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 2 slot. Lopez's win was especially key because the other two CofC singles players were in close matches that could have gone either way.
"Presbyterian was well-coached and played tough," CofC Head Coach Jay Bruner said. "Our guys worked well together and had chances in every match. When we didn't play well, we found a way to compete. Brice (Allanic) and Sebastian (Lopez) stepped up today and played solid tennis. It was good teamwork overall and a good start to the weekend."
The Cougars will now travel to North Carolina for their match against UNC Charlotte (2-4) tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. (ET) at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex in Charlotte, N.C.
Wofford 4, Mercer 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford (2-3) men's tennis team outlasted the Mercer Bears (0-6) to win their second straight match, 4-3, Saturday afternoon. On a day where four singles match-ups went to a third set, Walker Heffron's victory in a third set tiebreaker would be the difference for the Terriers.
In doubles play, Wofford started strong with an 8-4 win by Rob Galloway and Heffron over Mercer's Anderson Scarpa and Joao Pagan at the No. 1 spot. The Terriers would then clinch the doubles point with simultaneous victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Jackson Keith and David Sklar topped twins Arnav and Arsav Mohanty 8-4 at No. 2, while Graham Duncan and Parks Thompson defeated Vincent DeLise and Peter Tauchner 8-5 at the No. 3 position.
On the singles side, Wofford took control early, winning the first set in five of six match-ups. The Terriers pushed their lead to 2-0 after a quick win by Galloway over Arsav Mohanty (6-0, 6-1) in the No. 3 spot. However, the Bears would claw their way back into the match after a straight set win by Scarpa over Keith (6-3, 6-2) at No. 2. The momentum would stay with Mercer as they won the second set in all four remaining matches. The Bears would tie the score at two after a come from behind win by Taucher over Parks (3-6, 6-3, 6-0) in the No. 6 match-up. However, Wofford regained control after Duncan topped DeLise in three sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-4) at the No. 5 position. The lead would be short lived, as Arnav Mohanty completed his comeback to defeated Drew Superstein (2-6, 7-6, 6-2) at No. 1.
The match would be decided by the battle at the No. 4 position between Heffron and Pagan. Heffron jumped on top with a 6-4 win the in first set, but Pagan responded to with a strong second set to set up a third and final set to decide the match. In the third, Heffron jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead but Pagan stormed back to take a 4-3 advantaged. However, both players would not be broken in their remaining games and they headed to a tie breaker to decide the match.
In the tiebreaker, Pagan built an early 2-0 lead but Heffron fought back to tie it at three. No one was able to take control until Heffron served for the match leading 6-5. However, Pagan stayed alive after forcing Heffron to send his return long. Heffron would not be denied on his second serve as he earned another match point. Then with the match on the line and a large crowd watching Pagan and Heffron rallied until finally Pagan pushed the ball wide. The Wofford team and the surrounding crowd rushed the court to celebrate with the exhausted Heffron as the Terriers held on for the 4-3 win.
Wofford returns to action on February 13, when they host the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb at 2:30 p.m. at the Reeves Tennis Center.
UNCG 4, Campbell 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The UNCG men's tennis team won 4-3 at home Saturday against Campbell.
UNCG won three of three double matches against Campbell.
Freshman James Dougherty and sophomore Randy Phillips won in a tiebreaker against Adrien Rossignon and Josep Baro, 8-7 (7-4).
Junior Ahmet Sarioglu and freshman Daniel Mack beat Fernando Guillen and David Clavera, 8-5.
Freshmen Gaston Murray and William Albright teamed up to take down Steve Billington and Ondrej Kralik, 8-4.
In singles play, Sarioglu defeated Guillen, 6-2, 6-1, while Dougherty fought to win a close 7-5, 7-6 match against Billington.
Murray lost in a tough match to Rossignon, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6.
Phillips picked up a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win against Clavera. Mack fell to Baro, 6-2, 6-4, while sophomore Cameron Smith beat Rik Van Gerwen in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The Spartans return to action Saturday, Feb. 16 at Charlotte. Play will begin at noon.
UNC Asheville 6, Appalachian State 1
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Despite denomating doubles competition, Appalachian State men's tennis dropped a 6-1 final to UNC Asheville at Asheville Racquet Club Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (1-4) struggled in singles action, as the Bulldogs (1-1) won all six matches to Appalachian State in men's action.
The Bulldogs (1-1) recorded their first victory of the season after winning three singles matches in three sets, while the Mountaineers tallied their fourth loss of the season.
Thanks to the Andrew McKinnon/Steve Karendal (8-2) and Steve Lake/Zach Bost (8-5) pairs, the Apps won the dobules point to jump ahead with a 1-0 lead.
The Blue & White climbed back into the running in singles play, however, as Adrien Langeard defeated Sebasten King at No. 1 flight, 6-2, 6-1. The Bulldogs moved ahead 2-1 when freshman Alex Kroger defeated Jen-Willem Kleynhans at No. 4 singles, 7-6, 6-4.
Matt Waissen grew the lead to 3-1 when he moved past Bost in No. 2 flight, 7-5, 6-4.
Bulldog freshman Daniel Kripak sealed Asheville's win with a thrilling three-set match. Karendal won the first set, 4-6, but Kripak jumped back in the next two sets, 7-5, 7-5.
John Schubel and Ryan Matthews finished up the singles victories for Asheville when they defeated Matt Saltsgaver and McKinnon in the No. 5 and 6 positions; winning in three sets, with a third set tie-breaker.
The Mountaineers return to action when they travel to Greensville, N.C. for a noon matchup against East Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Georgia State 5, Georgia Southern 2
ATLANTA - The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team (1-1) was able to hang with No. 60 Georgia State (5-1) for a while, but ended up falling 5-2. Sophomore Andrew Dromsky and freshman Rayane Djouad picked up wins in the effort.
Dromsky took the lead early on in his match on court two and never looked back en route of defeating Thomas Cook 6-2, 6-4, handing Cook his first loss of the year. After winning his doubles match with Marco Osorio (8-7), Djouad continued his momentum in singles, beating Sofiane Chevallier 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
All other Eagles were able to take the lead in singles play in the first set but were not able to capitalize in the end.
The Eagles will stay in Atlanta and take on Kennesaw State at noon.