College of Charleston 5, UMBC 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men’s tennis team won its sixth straight match this afternoon by knocking off UMBC 5-2 at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
With the win, CofC’s record improves to 8-6 while the Retrievers drop to 6-6.
The Cougars had a tough time in doubles when only the duo of freshman Zack Lewis and sophomore Alon Faiman managed a win. The two beat Alex Drean and Daniel Gray of UMBC 8-4 on Court 3.
After losing the doubles point, CofC found a way to bounce back in singles. Lewis started the action by extending his singles winning streak to six matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Elliot Loubatie of the Retrievers on Court 6 to draw the match even at 1-1.
Sophomore Charlie Ghriskey followed suit when he overcame Daniel Gray of UMBC 6-3, 6-1 on Court 4.
Sophomore Sebastian Lopez also found a win via a 6-0, 6-3 score over Melker Svard on Court 2.
Finally, with the remaining three singles matches in the third set, junior Crescente Lesser pulled off a come-from-behind 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 win over Gaulthier Berret of the Retrievers to seal the overall victory for CofC.
“We had to deal with a slow start in doubles along with wind and some injuries today,” CofC Head Coach Jay Bruner said. “However, we showed what we’re made of against a tough UMBC team. We know there are still some key things we should improve on but our guys are passionate enough that they are finding ways to compete and win every time we step on the court.”
The Cougars will look to stay hot as they jump back into Southern Conference play this weekend. CofC will host Wofford on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. (ET) at Patriots Point.
NJIT 5, The Citadel 2
The Citadel 6, Nebraska-Omaha 1
HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Citadel tennis team split its doubleheader Thursday at the Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Resort with a morning loss to New Jersey Institute of Technology, 5-2 and an afternoon victory over Nebraska-Omaha, 6-1.
The Citadel improved its record to 6-9 overall and snapped an eight-match losing streak.
David Orces and Elliott Sperr both went 1-1 on the day in singles. In the morning the Bulldog senior lost to Markus Schultz 6-4, 6-0 from NJIT but defeated UNO's Conner Tieszen 7-5, 6-2. Orces picked up his ninth dual win on the season.
Sperr also defeated his UNO foe Carols Ramos Salazar with scores of 6-0, 6-4. The Charleston native was unable to take down Erik Artursson as the NJIT freshman won 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Dillon Berkabile lost in both his singles matches. The Odyssey Charter graduate lost to the Highlanders' Holger Norregaard 6-4, 6-3 and the Mavericks' John Ellis 6-3, 6-2.
Both Peter Bleach and JC Pauli went 2-0 on the day. Bleach earned his eighth and ninth win defeating NJIT's Petr Rousar 7-5, 6-2 and Connor Larson from Nebrask-Omaha 6-3, 6-0, respectively.
Pauli moved above the .500 mark (6-5) with two victories as the Bulldog junior took down the Highlanders' Fraser Croad 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 and Eric McKnight from UNO 6-0, 6-2.
James Atkinson was defeated by Andres Alban from NJIT 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 4 slot. The Bulldog junior went 0-1 on the day.
Making his second singles appearance this fall Oliver Dedding earned a victory in the No. 4 position over the Mavericks' Matt Frost 6-1, 3-6, 10-3.
In doubles play the Bulldogs won four out of six matches. The Citadel swept Nebraska-Omaha winning in all three doubles positions. Dedding and Orces defeated Tieszen and Ramos Salazar 8-4, while Sperr and Bleach took down Frost and Larson 8-3. Berkabile and Pauli defeated the Greteman brothers, Peter and Nathan, 8-3.
The duo of Orces and Dedding were the lone Bulldogs to be victorious in doubles against New Jersey Institute of Technology as the pair defeated Rousar and Artursson 8-4.
The Citadel netters have a week off before returning to the courts. The Bulldogs will be making up their postponed match against Coker on Mar. 28 at 2 p.m.