Elon 6, Winthrop 1
ELON, N.C. - Behind strong singles play at every position, the Elon University men's tennis team claimed a 6-1 victory over the Winthrop Eagles on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 24, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
The Phoenix rallied from dropping the doubles point to fall behind early, taking all six singles matches to secure the home win.
"I thought we responded well today after doubles and really competed in every spot in singles," said Elon head coach Michael Leonard. "We still have to get better and improve and today is a win we can build upon moving forward. We're excited about opening up Southern Conference play here at home against The Citadel in a week."
Jordan Kaufman clinched the match win for the maroon and gold at No. 4 singles, battling Yuta Hirokawa to a 7-6, 6-1, victory in straight sets to give the Phoenix a 4-1 lead.
Stefan Fortmann was the first to finish for Elon after quickly dispatching Winthrop's Peter Nagovnak in straight sets. Fortmann won the first set, 6-0, and took the second in impression fashion, 6-1. Fortmann improves to 3-2 on the year with the victory.
Cameron Silverman, ranked 28th in the nation in the recent ITA singles rankings, was second in line to finish for the Phoenix. Silverman topped Dylan Comerford, 6-3, in the first set and carried the momentum into the second for a 6-0 win. In doubles, Silverman and Fortmann, ranked No. 23 in the nation, won 8-6 to improve to 3-2 on the year.
Robert Lindgren won in straight sets at No. 3 singles versus Ivar Aramburu, 6-3, 6-3, to help Elon to a 3-1 lead.
Folllowing Kaufman's match-clinching victory over Hirokawa, Brian Kowalski and Juan Madrid both finished the match in impressive fashion with wins over Juan Pablo Boada and Michael Chen to help secure the singles sweep. Kowalski won in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6, while Madrid claimed a three-set win, 6-2, 5-7, 10-6.
The Phoenix returns home on Sunday, March 3, for its Southern Conference opener versus The Citadel at 1 p.m.
UNCG 6, UNC Asheville 1
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNCG men's tennis team continues its winning streak after beating UNC Asheville, 6-1 Sunday, Feb. 24.
"I think we played pretty good overall," said head coach Thomas Mozur. "We need to focus harder next week on practice and not get complacent."
UNCG won all three doubles matches earning them the doubles point.
Freshman James Dougherty and sophomore Randy Phillips teamed up to win in a tiebreaker against Matt Waissen and Adrien Langeard, 9-8 (7-4).
Freshman Daniel Mack and junior Ahmet Sarioglu beat Daniel Kripak and John Schubel, 8-5.
Sophomore Cameron Smith and freshman Gaston Murray won 8-6 against Alex Croker and Brett Landau.
In singles, Sarioglu lost to Langeard, 6-4, 6-1. Dougherty defeated Waisson, 6-2, 6-2, while Murray picked up a 6-3, 7-5 win against Kripak.
Phillips fought to defeat Croker, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, while Mack beat Schubel, 6-4, 7-5. Smith won his match 6-4, 6-3 against Landau.
The 4-0 Spartans will return to action Saturday, March 2 when they host The Citadel at the UNCG tennis courts at 12 p.m.
Georgia 6, Furman 1
ATHENS, GA. - The eighth-ranked Georgia men's tennis team topped Furman, 6-1, Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. Paladin rookie Matt Browne defeated Eric Diaz, 6-1, 6-3, at number five singles to score for Furman.
The Bulldogs clinched the opening point with doubles wins at flight one and flight three. Garrett Brasseaux and Nathan Pasha teamed up for an 8-1 victory over junior Joel Cook and senior Andrew Mellow in the top match, and the duo of Will Oliver and Ben Wagland bested sophomore Jacob Behal and senior Tyler Droll, 8-3, at number three. Georgia's Eric Diaz and Marco Nunez led Browne and junior Alex Christ, 7-3, in an unfinished match at flight two.
In singles play, Georgia (6-3) swept the first four matches and claimed a win at flight six to complete the team win. Pasha, ranked 21st nationally, posted a 6-1, 6-3 win over Mellow at number one singles, and 92nd-ranked Wagland defeated Christ, 6-1, 6-1, at flight two. Austin Smith recorded a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Cook in the third singles match, and Brasseaux was victorious, 6-0, 6-1, versus Behal at number four. In the sixth singles match-up, Nunez held on for a 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6) win over Droll.
Furman (2-6) will compete in the Pacific Coast Doubles in La Jolla, Calif., March 1-3.
Kentucky 5, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In its second-consecutive match against a top 15 ranked opponent, the Samford men's tennis team dropped a 5-1 decision to the sixth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday as the Bulldogs hosted their highest-ranked opponent in school history at the Samford Tennis Center.
"We did a great job competing today," said Samford head coach and former Kentucky standout Rahim Esmail. "Kentucky is one of the best teams in the country, and for us to challenge them at certain spots in their lineup is a great accomplishment for us. Kentucky is very talented and very well coached, and this was a great opportunity for us to compete against one of the top programs in the country."
Samford (4-4) faced its second top 15 ranked opponent in as many days Sunday. On Saturday, the Bulldogs squared off against the No. 11 Mississippi State Bulldogs and suffered a 7-0 decision at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.
Earlier this season, Samford traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., and posted a historic 4-3 road victory at No. 45-ranked Alabama. In the Bulldogs' momentous triumph over the Crimson Tide, Samford ended a 31-match losing streak against Alabama, dating all the way back to May 5, 1961, when the school was named Howard College.
On Sunday, Samford and Kentucky (11-2) agreed not to hold the doubles competition and to focus solely on the six singles matches.
The Wildcats were victorious on five of the six singles courts, but the Bulldogs' true freshman Fares Kilani tallied his best win of the 2012-13 campaign as he knocked off the Wildcats' Alejandro Gomez, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), on court No. 3. With his pivotal triumph, Kilani improved to 5-3 in singles play this season.
"We got a lot out of today and I feel like we will be able to improve tremendously from our experiences this weekend in getting the opportunity to compete against two top-10 programs back-to-back," Esmail said. "Fares did a great job of pulling out that match today. Overall, we are doing a lot of things well right now and I feel like we are making improvements each week as a team and as individuals."
Esmail, in his second season at the helm of the Samford men's tennis team, was a standout at Kentucky from 2001 to 2004, where he was a fixture at No. 4 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Wildcats. In 2002, he went 31-4 in singles and 23-2 in doubles to help Kentucky climb to No. 4 in the national rankings, serving as a team captain for the Wildcats in his junior and senior seasons.
Esmail was ranked as high as No. 54 nationally in singles at Kentucky and attained a doubles rank as high as No. 8. As a junior, he was a six-time Canadian National singles finalist, a three-time junior Davis Cup team member, and winner of the 1998 national doubles championship. In 1999, Esmail competed in the junior French Open and the junior U.S. Open.
Last season, Esmail lifted the Bulldogs to a 17-win season and led his squad to a share of the 2012 Southern Conference title. Esmail, one of the hottest up-and-coming young coaches in the Southeast, piloted Samford to a 17-5 overall record in 2012 and finished with a stellar 9-1 mark in SoCon play.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action March 3 at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin SoCon play at home against defending conference tournament champion, the College of Charleston Cougars, in a key early-league matchup to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
UCF 4, Georgia Southern 3
STATESBORO, Ga. -- The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team could not hold onto an early lead as they fell to Central Florida 4-3 in their home opener on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Hanner Tennis Complex.
The Eagles (3-3) took the lead early, claiming the doubles point with victories on court two and one. The senior-junior duo of Matthijs Verdam and Oliver Webb proved to be successful first, winning their match against Matthew Gladstone and Juan Bolona 8-5. Shortly after freshman Rayane Djouad and junior Marco Osorio gave the Eagles a 1-0 advantage going in to singles by defeating Amar Hromic and Pedro Wagner 8-6.
The Knights (5-5) tied up the game 1-1 before Webb and sophomore Albert Codina Sala won their matches at the number four and three spots. Webb finished first, beating Jose Sangroniz 6-3, 6-2. Codina Sala made a big comeback after dropping the first set 6-1, taking the second and third sets 6-1 as well to claim the win.
The Eagles will be back in action next weekend starting their conference slate against Wofford on Saturday before taking on Bethune-Cookman on Sunday.
North Carolina 7, Chattanooga 0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team dropped a 7-0 match at No. 22 North Carolina today. The Mocs were swept for the first time this season, dropping their overall record to 5-3. The Tar Heels improved to 6-2.
UNC won all 10 matches on the day, but the Mocs did push two singles contests to three sets. Senior Manuel Barroetavena dropped his first set 6-2 to No. 77 Brett Clark at No. 2. He fought back to win the second 7-5. He lost the super-breaker in the third 10-8 for his first loss of the spring. He is still an impressive 7-1 in spring dual matches.
Senior Jackson Tresnan also lost a tough three setter to Maik Ulrich at No. 5. Tresnan lost the first set (4-6) before winning the second (6-2). He lost the super-breaker in the third 10-6. It was also his first loss of the spring season.
The Mocs are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 27, when they host a rescheduled match with Lee University. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m.