College of Charleston 5, Winthrop 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - It was a great day for the younger Cougars as the College of Charleston men's tennis team opened its spring schedule by overcoming Winthrop 5-2 at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The Cougars (1-1) kicked off the afternoon with a solid doubles performance as junior Brice Allanic and sophomore Sebastian Lopez won their match 8-1 against Winthrop's Peter Nagovnak and Yuta Hirokawa in the No. 1 position.
Sophomore Alon Faiman and his doubles partner, sophomore Charlie Ghriskey, capped off the doubles point by besting Winthrop's Dylan Comerford and Corey Decandia 8-6 in the No. 2 slot.
In singles play, junior Crescente Lesser, freshman Zack Lewis and Alon Faiman all won their matches before Ghriskey clinched the match for the College as he overcame Juan Boada of Winthrop 6-4, 7-6 in the No. 4 spot.
"This was an awesome start for us, Winthrop's a good young team," CofC men's head tennis coach Jay Bruner said. "Coach (Andrew) Stubbs has done a great job of getting them ready. We had a lot of matches that could have gone either way in doubles and singles. I'm happy that we played with some experience in just our second match this year. I was really impressed with the way we got things started and hopefully we'll keep improving our team chemistry."
The Cougars will next be in action at Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. on Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. (ET).
UNCG 5, Coastal Carolina 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The UNCG men's tennis program picked up it's first dual match victory of the 2013 spring season against Coastal Carolina, Friday, Feb. 1, at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
"We'll take a win any day," said head coach Thomas Mozur. We played a very good and experienced Coastal Carolina team. We always have a good match with them and today was tough. Every court was a battle. I don't have many complaints. We could get better in some areas, but overall we prepared hard and competed hard on every court, so as a coach that's about all you can ask for."
UNCG won two out of three doubles matches, earning them one point towards their 5-2 win over Coastal Carolina.
Freshman James Dougherty and sophomore Randy Phillips set the tone for the Spartans winning their doubles match against Yusuke Kusuda and Ted Nilsson, 8-6.
Junior Ahmet Sarioglu and freshman Daniel Mack followed suit when they fought hard to win 8-7 (8-6) against Garik Yedigarian and Matias Di Pasquale.
Freshmen William Albright and Gaston Murray put up a fight against Leo Christofides and John Karle, but fell 8-5.
In singles play, the Blue and Gold picked up four wins out of the six matches played.
Sarioglu lost 6-4, 6-2 against Coastal Carolina's Kusuda, before Dougherty dropped a grueling match against Nilsson, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7).
Murray took on Yedigarian, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, while Phillips clinched the match when he beat Di Pasquale in a tough second-set tiebreaker, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7).
Mack won an easy 6-4, 6-3 match against Christofides. Sophomore Cameron Smith beat Hunter Whalen, 6-4, 6-3.
The 1-0 Spartans continue action when they host Campbell Saturday, Feb. 9, at noon.
The Citadel 6, Coastal Georgia 1
Brunswick, Ga. - The Citadel tennis team earned a 6-1 victory at Coastal Georgia on Friday at the Coastal Georgia Tennis Complex.
The Dogs started the match strong winning two-out-of-three points in doubles action. In the No. 1 position, The Citadel's David Orces and Oliver Dedding defeated Louis Volclair and Jose Zaatini 8-6, while the Cadet duo of Elliott Sperr and Alex Howle beat down Robin Lucas and Alejandro Aquilino 8-5.
Five different Bulldogs earned points in singles including newcomers J.C. Pauli and Jackson Pride in their season debuts.
Pauli, a Vincennes University transfer, earned his first win as a Bulldog over Malhar Mali 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 4 position. Jackson, the only freshman Citadel to compete in singles, defeated Leif Shuman 6-4, 6-2 to round out the No. 6 spot.
In two anticipated rematches from last season, Orces' matchup against Volclair (6-2, 6-2) and Peter Bleach's meeting with Lucas (6-2,3-6,6-2), concluded with a pair of Bulldog victories. Orces and Bleach returned the favor to both Volclair and Lucas, who edged out both Bulldogs last season.
In the No. 5 position Sperr defeated Aquilino in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
The Citadel travels to Daytona Beach, Fla., to take on Bethune-Cookman at 9 a.m., and Palm Beach Atlantic at 2:30 p.m., at Bethune-Cookman's City Island Tennis Courts.