Georgia Southern 4, Appalachian State 3
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State men’s tennis hosted Georgia Southern in its second home match this week, but was unable to overcome the SoCon foe, dropping a 4-3 decision Friday evening at Deer Valley Racquet Club.
The Mountaineers (4-9, 2-2 SoCon), who played only their second match at home after completing seven straight matches on the road, split the week after blanking Davidson on Wednesday in a 7-0 decision.
Appalachian swept past the Eagles (7-5, 3-1 SoCon) in doubles play with lead pair Sebastien King and Zach Bost extending their win streak to four after posting a 9-7 victory against Marco Osorio and Rayane Djouad at No. 1. Andrew McKinnon and Jen-Willem Kleynhans defeated GSU’s Kyle Hoffman and Andrew Dromsky in an 8-4 final at the No. 2 spot, while Steve Lake and Steve Karendal grabbed a 9-8 victory versus Matthijs Verdam and Alex Doherty in No. 3 doubles for an early Mountaineer lead (1-0).
The Apps opened singles action with King grabbing his sixth consecutive singles victory after defeating Dromsky in a three-set thriller (7-5, 4-6, 7-6). GSU responded with a 6-3, 4-3 win at No. 2, but Bost fought back, picking up a 6-4, 7-5 win over Verdam at No. 3 and edging Appalachian ahead, 3-1.
The Eagles were hardly ready to give up, however, as they posted wins at No’s. 4, 5, and 6 for the comeback victory. Appalachian’s McKinnon battled to the end at No. 4, falling 7-5, 7-5, while Matt Saltsgaver also dropped a 7-5, 7-5 decision at No. 5. GSU rounded out its 4-3 victory when Kleynhans fell with a 6-3, 6-4 loss at No. 6.
UNCG 4, East Carolina 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's tennis team holds a 9-2 record this season after beating East Carolina, 4-3 Friday, March 22 at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
With the victory, head coach Thomas Mozur became the all-time wins leader in UNCG men's tennis coaching history at the division one level.
"This was our best team performance of the year," said coach Mozur. "We competed hard on every court. This is the type of effort we need to bring to all our matches."
The Spartans dropped the doubles point when they lost two out of three matches to ECU.
Freshman Daniel Mack and junior Ahmet Sarioglu teamed up at No. 2 to get the lone doubles win against Damien Brenard and John Schmitt, 8-4.
At No. 3, sophomore Cameron Smith and freshman Gaston Murray lost 8-3 to Patriek Wolterbeek and Nicolas Soriano.
ECU secured the doubles point at No. 1 when Joran Vliegen and Colin Roler defeated freshman James Dougherty and sophomore Randy Phillips in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-3).
In singles play, Phillips fought at No. 4 in a third-set tiebreaker to win 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6-3) against Brenard, before Dougherty won in an easy match against Schmitt at No. 2, 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 5, Mack won in two sets against Mario Martinez, 7-5, 6-3, while Murray dropped his match at No. 3 to Soriano, 6-2, 6-4.
Smith picked up a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 6 against Roller to clinch the match for the Spartans.
Sarioglu lost a grueling match at No. 1 against Vliegen, who is undefeated this season, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6-3).
The Spartans will return to action when they travel to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb Tuesday, March 26 at 2 p.m.
Furman 6, Emory 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men’s tennis team snapped a seven-match losing streak Friday with a 6-1 win over Emory at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
In the opening doubles round, Emory’s Elliott Kahler and Ian Wagner defeated senior Andrew Mellow and junior Joel Cook, 8-6, in the top spot, and Paladin sophomore Jacob Behal and senior Tyler Droll posted an 8-5 victory over Ayush Bajoria and Williams at flight three to set up the decisive match at number two doubles. Following a 6-6 tie, Furman came through with a win to clinch the doubles point, as junior Alex Christ and freshman Matt Browne topped Jackson Isaacs and Alex Ruderman, 8-6.
The Paladins won five out of six matches in singles play. Mellow bested Ruderman, 6-4, 6-1 at flight one, and Cook pulled through a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win versus Kahler in the number three match. Browne held on for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Rafe Mosetick at number four. In the flight five match, Behal defeated Adams, 6-2, 6-2, while sophomore Luke Synn notched a 6-1, 7-5 advantage versus Simon Lavoie-Perusse in the flight six match-up.
The Eagles lone win came at number two singles, where Wagner came from behind for a 6-7, 7-5, 1-0 victory over Christ.
Furman (3-11, 0-3 SoCon) will play at Georgia Southern Tuesday at 2 p.m.