Chattanooga 7, North Alabama 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team improved to 4-1 in the spring with a 7-0 win over North Alabama at the Hixson Racquet Club today. The Mocs won all 10 matches and are off to their best start in over 10 years.
Despite posting a shutout over the Lions, there were some close matches throughout the day. With doubles point already decided, seniors Roberto Vieira and Chris Smith were in a battle at No. 1 with Aliaksei Kavalenak and Matt Fuery. The UTC duo pulled out a 9-8 win by taking the tiebreaker 8-6. Smith and Vieira improved to 3-1 in the spring at the No. 1 spot.
Smith was impressive at No. 2 singles today, scoring his first win of the spring. He only lost one game in a straight-sets win over Guillaume Dechoz (6-0, 6-1). Senior Manuel Barroetavena moved up to the top spot, scoring a (6-0, 6-3) two-set win over Fuery. Barroetavena is undefeated in the spring at 4-0 and leads the team with a 12-5 overall record.
Senior Ankit Chopra needed three sets to defeat Rob Whitsitt (4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3)) at No. 3, while senior Jackson Tresnan won a battle with Kavalenka at No. 4 (7-5, 6-4). Sophomore Pavels Grigorjevs and freshman Gino Delavalle also had singles wins.
Appalachian State 4, Tennessee Tech 3
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State men's tennis posted its first victory of the 2013 season as they defeated Tennessee Tech, 4-3 this afternoon at Deer Valley Racquet Club.
The Mountaineers fell behind 2-0 at the conclusion of doubles play as the No. 1 doubles team of Zachary Bost and Sebastien King fell 8-3 to Tennessee Tech's Syrym Adbukhalikov and Alejandro Augusto. After a tough match that was tied at six all the No. 2 doubles team of Steve Karendal and Andrew McKinnon was unable to hold on and fell 8-6 to the Golden Eagles.
Steve Lake and Jan-Willem Kleynhans picked up the Apps only win in doubles as they defeated Alvara Cintas and Arutro Santa 8-3.
Appalachian was unable to get a win in either No. 1 singles or No. 2 singles as both King and Bost fell to their opponents. The Black and Gold's first win in singles on the afternoon came when Karendal defeated Tarasov, 6-1, 6-0 in No. 3 singles.
Kleynhans earned his second win on the day when he defeated Eremeev, 6-3, 6-2 in No. 4 singles bringing the Apps within one of Tennessee Tech.
The Apps continued to battle back as they earned victories in both No. 5 singles and No. 6 singles. Matt Saltsgaver posted a 6-2, 6-2 win in No. 5 singles, while McKinnon notched the 6-3, 6-2 win in No. 6 singles to solidify the Mountaineer victory.
With the win, Appalachian improves to 1-4 overall on the season, while the Golden Eagles fall to 0-7 overall on the season.
App State will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 9 when they travel to Asheville, N.C. to take on UNC Asheville. The match is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
#11 Florida 7, Furman 0
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The 11th-ranked Florida men's tennis team blanked Furman, 7-0, Sunday at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla.
The Gators (5-0) clinched the doubles point after notching wins at number one and number three. The duo of Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson teamed up for an 8-1 victory over junior Alex Christ and freshman Matt Browne in the top spot, and Michael Alford and Luke Johnson defeated sophomores Richard Casagrande and Jacob Behal, 8-4, at number three. Florida's Stephane Piro and Bob van Overbeek led 7-4 over seniors Andrew Mellow and Tyler Droll when the second doubles match was suspended.
In singles action, van Overbeek beat Mellow, 6-3, 6-4, at number one, and Piro defeated Christ, 6-1, 6-1, in the second singles match-up. At number three singles, Alford posted a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Behal, while Watson recorded a 6-1, 6-3 win over Browne at number four. Federhofer defeated Droll, 6-0, 6-2, in the number five match, and Johnson held on for a 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-5, win over Casagrande at number six singles to complete the sweep.
Furman (1-4) returns home to entertain Presbyterian on Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m.
#59 Georgia State 5, Samford 2
ATLANTA - In its toughest match of the young 2013 campaign, the Samford University men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision on the road Sunday against the 59th-ranked Georgia State Panthers in a nonconference duel held at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center in Piedmont Park.
Samford (1-1) suffered its first defeat of the season Sunday and will return to the state of Alabama this week for a Wednesday matchup on the road at No. 52 Alabama.
No. 59 Georgia State (4-1) took an early 1-0 lead in the match by hanging on to win the doubles point. The Bulldogs' pairing of Zac Dunkle and Alex Sajonz earned an 8-7 triumph on court No. 1, while the Panthers' duo comprised of Lucas Santa Ana and Victor Valente earned an 8-4 win in the No. 2 doubles contest.
With the teams splitting the first two matches, the all-important doubles point came down to court No. 3. In an epic battle, Georgia State's combination of Thomas Cook and Andrew Zedde eked out a hard-fought 8-7 victory against Samford's gritty doubles team of Austin Akers and Fares Kilani.
The Bulldogs also fought hard in singles play Sunday, but the Panthers received victories on courts No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 to claim the 5-2 win.
Samford's singles victories came on courts No. 3 and No. 5. In the No. 3 singles contest, the Bulldogs' Kilani rallied back to earn a thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 triumph over Georgia State's Zedde, while Samford's Akers also came from behind to knock off the Panthers' Robert Schulze, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
With their respective victories, both of the Bulldogs' freshmen, Kilani and Akers, improved to a perfect 2-0 in singles play this season.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the 52nd-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala.