Samford 6, College of Charleston 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In a rematch of the 2012 Southern Conference Tournament championship, the 64th-ranked Samford University men's tennis team earned a decisive 6-1 home victory over the College of Charleston Cougars on Sunday in the Bulldogs' key league opener held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With its decisive 6-1 triumph, Samford (5-4, 1-0 SoCon) avenged its 4-0 loss to College of Charleston (2-5, 0-2 SoCon) in the championship match of the 2012 SoCon Tournament.
Samford opened Sunday's match in dominating fashion by sweeping the doubles point. On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' No. 36-ranked tandem comprised of Zac Dunkle and Garrison Laduca cruised to an 8-4 victory. Samford's pairing of Elliot Barnwell and Austin Akers then dispatched of its College of Charleston counterparts, 8-3, on court No. 2.
Not to be outdone, the Bulldogs' No. 3 doubles combination of Fares Kilani and Alex Sajonz posted an 8-6 triumph over the Cougars' team of Zack Lewis and Josh Record.
With Sunday's doubles victories, Samford's Dunkle and Laduca remained undefeated on the season at 3-0, while Barnwell and Akers moved to 2-1 this year. The Bulldogs' Kilani and Sajonz also improved to 2-1 in dual-match play this season.
After earning its 1-0 lead via the doubles point, Samford then cruised to Sunday's 6-1 team triumph by receiving five straight victories in singles play from Dunkle, Barnwell, Kilani, Sajonz and Akers.
Akers, the Bulldogs' sophomore transfer from the University of Wisconsin, improved his team-best singles record to 6-2 this season, while Kilani, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, moved to 6-3 at the No. 3 singles position.
In Sunday's No. 2 singles match, Samford's Barnwell tallied an impressive 6-1, 7-5 victory over College of Charleston's Sebastian Lopez. With the win, Barnwell improved his singles record on the season to 5-4 and the Bulldogs' earned their match-clinching fourth point of the night.
Elon 6, The Citadel 1
Elon, N.C. - James Atkinson earned the lone point for The Citadel tennis team in a 6-1 loss Sunday afternoon to Elon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs fall to 5-3, 0-2 in the SoCon while the Phoenix improve to 4-3 and pick up their first Southern Conference win.
Elon took the early lead earning the doubles point with victories in all three positions.
The 26th nationally ranked duo of Cameron Silverman and Stefan Fortmann took down David Orces and Oliver Dedding, 8-2 in the No. 1 position, while Elliott Sperr and Alex Howle fell to Elon's Juan Madrid and Jordan Kaufman 8-3 in the No. 3 slot. Both Bulldog tandems drop to 3-3 on the season and continue to lead The Citadel in doubles.
In his second appearance for the Bulldogs this season Atkinson earned the lone point for The Citadel with a win in the No. 3 slot over Brian Kowalski, 7-6, 3-6, 10-8.
In the anticipated match in the No. 1 position, Orces was toppled by Silverman in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
Sophomore Alex Howle made his first appearance in singles play but dropped 6-1, 6-1 to sophomore Jordan Kaufman.
Playing in the No. 2 slot for the Dogs, Dillon Berkabile battled tough with Stefan Fortmann but fell 6-3, 7-5. Fortmann was ranked as high as 117th nationally earlier this season.
Georgia Southern 4, Bethune-Cookman 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Men's Tennis team picked up its second win of the weekend, beating Bethune-Cookman 4-0 in a non-conference matchup on Sunday afternoon at the Hanner Tennis Complex. The Eagles improve to 5-3 on the season where the Wildcats fall to 5-6 on the year.
"We played very strong," said Head Coach Nick Zieziula. "We juggled some personel and everybody who stepped in handled it exactly like they should so that's great to see."
The Eagles built up a 1-0 quickly after two wins in doubles play. Freshman-junior duo Rayane Djouad and Marco Osorio had no trouble with Bethune Cookman's Seve Day and Juan Veron, winning their match 8-0. On court two, sophomores Kyle Hoffman and Andrew Dromsky clinched the doubles point with a 8-3 win over Santiago Lobelo and Diego Garavito. Junior Oliver Webb and red-shirt freshman Carson Jones' left their match against Moritz Pronath and Gilbert Rotich at a 6-6 tie since the point had already been decided.
The Eagles needed three more wins to decide and end the match and they received those from freshman Rafael Racy, Jones and Webb. Racy made his first singles start worth it, beating Pronath with a quick 6-2, 6-2 for Eagles' first singles victory of the day on court six. Jones added a victory of his own when he defeated Kip Jackson 6-4, 6-0 on court five. Webb rounded up the victory with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Leonardo Lima on court three.
Both Dromsky (6-3, 5-2) and Djouad (6-1, 4-1) were up by one set and three games in the second set, but both matches were left unfinished.
The Eagles now turn their attention to a neutral-site matchup with Lousiana-Lafayette next Sunday, March 10 at 10 a.m. in Atlanta before they return to conference play at the Citadel on March 16 in Charleston, S.C.
Coastal Carolina 5, Davidson 2
CONWAY, S.C. - Davidson suffered its second road defeat in as many days, dropping a 5-2 decision to Big South foe Coastal Carolina Sunday afternoon in men's tennis action.
Davidson fell to 6-3, while Coast Carolina improved to 4-3 on the season.
The Chanticleers opened the match with a pair of 8-2 wins in doubles at No. 1 and 3 to grab an early 1-0 team lead.
Nicky Kunz and Robert Lightbourn gave the Wildcats its first two points, but Coastal Carolina took the other four singles matches to finish off the win.
Kunz got back on the winning track after dropping a match the day before, taking home a 6-4, 7-6 victory at No. 1 vs. Yusuke Kusuda. The sophomore ran his record to 5-2 on the year at the top singles slot.
Lightbourn evened his singles mark to 3-3 after Ted Nilsson retired. The junior forced a third set with a 6-3 win after falling 7-6 in the first set.
The Wildcats return home to open Southern Conference play when they host Chattanooga, March 6 at 1 p.m.