Elon 4, Duke 3
DURHAM, N.C. – With its back against the wall, the Elon University tennis team rallied to upset the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils in both teams’ opening dual match of the season Friday, Jan. 17, inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
Trailing 3-1 after three singles matches, the Phoenix, ranked No. 64 in the country, picked up wins from Jordan Kaufman and Cameron Silverman to pull even with the Blue Devils before Brian Kowalski held off a hard-charging Raphael Hemmeler to secure the upset.
“From the first point to the last point, we played with a lot of heart,” said Elon head coach Michael Leonard. “Duke is a class group of guys and that’s not an easy loss for them. Hats off to them for being a class act. But we had some guys step up today and I’m just so proud of the way they put themselves in an opportunity to win and followed through on it. This is a special moment we’ll always remember.”
The win marks the highest-ranked opponent Elon has beat since transitioning to Division I action in 2000. The previous best was a 2007 victory at then-No. 37 South Carolina. It’s also the second win in program history against an ACC program and the first win in seven tries against Duke. Elon’s only other win against an ACC school came in a 5-0 sweep of Boston College, also in 2007.
Kaufman started the rally by picking up a three-set win on court No. 6. The junior had to rally for the win after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker by sweeping Cale Hammond in the second set and holding on to win the third set, 6-3.
Silverman, ranked No. 25 in the country, made quick work of Jason Tahir, the 52nd-ranked player in the nation, in the third set with a 6-1 win after the two split the first opening sets. Silverman was one of two Elon players to win his first set, as the senior won 6-5 before dropping the second set, 3-6.
Kowalski was the other Elon player to win his respective first set, as the junior beat Hemmeler 6-3 before dropping the second set, 6-2. Kowalski had a 5-2 lead in the third set that quickly became a 5-all tie after Hemmeler broke Kowalski to force a tiebreaker, but Kowalski held on for the win.
“That may sound like a big lead but when you’re in a tough environment like that, it’s not easy,” Leonard said. “Brian was so composed. He didn’t get rattled.”
The only other singles match to go all three sets was on court No. 3 where Robert Lindgren fell to No. 95 Bruno Semenzato, 0-6, 6-3, 0-6.
Stefan Fortmann and Juan Madrid both suffered two-set losses, as Fred Saba made quick work of Fortmann, 6-2, 6-1, and Josh Levine, ranked No. 77 in the country, topped Madrid, 6-3, 6-2.
The Phoenix opened the match by picking up what turned out to be a crucial doubles point. Silverman and Fortmann dropped a tightly contested set on court No. 1, but Lindgren and Kowalski finished shortly after and picked up a 6-4 victory on Hemmeler and Semenzato. Hemmeler and Semenzato fell into an early hole against the Elon duo but fought back to even the set. The late surge was not enough, though, as Lindgren and Kowalski finished off the set for the win.
With the pressure on Madrid and Kaufman on court No. 3, the pair battled Hammond and Daniel McCall to a 5-all tie before taking the tiebreaker to win the set, 6-5(5), and the point for the Phoenix. Madrid and Kaufman had to battle back from an early multi-game hole to top McCall and Hammond.
The Phoenix looks to build on the upset when they return to the courts Jan. 24-25 in Charlottesville, Va. in the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament against the nation’s top-ranked team, the Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia has five players in the ITA singles rankings, including the nation’s No. 3 player, Mitchell Frank.
Clemson 7, Furman 0
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson men’s tennis team downed Furman, 7-0, Friday afternoon at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center in Clemson, S.C. The Paladins tallied one doubles win in the match-up.
The Tigers won the first two doubles matches to clinch the opening point. Hunter Harrington and Dominique Maden teamed up for a 6-2 win over Paladin seniors Alex Christ and Joel Cook in the top spot, then Luke Johnson and Austin Ansari beat junior Jacob Behal and rookie Adam Steryous, also 6-2, at flight two. The Paladins picked up a win at flight three, as sophomores Matt Browne and Ben Horst topped Daniel Strawn and Fernando Sanchez, 6-3.
In singles action, Clemson swept the top four matches in straight sets. Harrington posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Christ in the top flight, then Maden bested Browne, 6-3, 6-3, at flight two. In the number three match-up, Ansari posted a 6-3, 6-5 win versus Steryous, while Johnson beat freshman Juan Sheppard, 6-2, 6-3, at flight four.
Furman’s Behal won the first set at flight five, 6-5, before dropping the second set, 6-2, to Robert Dudley. Dudley came from behind to win the final set, 6-5. Clemson’s Sanchez registered a 6-5, 6-3 flight six win versus Cook.
Furman (3-2) will play at South Carolina Sunday at 10 a.m.
Florida Atlantic 4, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern men’s tennis suffered a tough loss to the Florida Atlantic Owls this afternoon, with a final score of 4-1. Both teams having just come off of a loss, this match was highly anticipated.
“This is a very disappointing loss for us, we didn't close well enough in the doubles and then lost 4 tiebreakers in singles,” said head coach Nick Zieziula. “We weren't strong enough reacting to adversity today. We had some leads slip away in sets, that’s going to happen in matches especially with the 'no-ad' scoring but that can't be something that we allow to affect us in the following games. Up or down in matches, we need to work on staying in the moment.”
In doubles play, all three teams for the Eagles were competitive but unable to cinch a win. Oliver Webb and Nico DeGroof were defeated 6-3, Kyle Hoffman and Rafael Racy lost 6-4, and Albert Codina Sala and Marco were down 5-4 but the match was unfinished.
In the singles bracket, Oliver Webb lost in a tie-breaker to Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff (2-6, 6-2, 6-2). Kyle Hoffman was defeated by FAU’s Richard Meade (6-4, 6-5). Marco Osorio earned a win against Harrison Heysek (6-1, 6-1), securing the Eagles’ only win for the day. Both Albert Codina Sala and Nico DeGroof’s matches were unfinished. Christian Kerrigan lost a close one to Sean Bacha (6-5, 6-5).
The Eagles next competition is against Central Florida in Orlando on February 1, 2014.
North Carolina 7, Wofford 0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Wofford men’s tennis team fell in its season opener to the ITA number 43-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels 7-0 on Friday evening at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
With the loss, the Terriers fall to 0-1 on the season. With the victory, the Tar Heels improve to 2-0 after also defeating East Carolina University 7-0 earlier in the day.
North Carolina claimed the first point of the match in doubles as they earned victories in the number one and number two doubles matches. Number one doubles pair junior Rob Galloway and freshman Haris Poric fell to Brayden Schnur and Brett Clark 6-2, and number two duo of juniors Walker Heffron and Jackson Keith fell to Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray 6-2. Both of those matches finished before the number three doubles match.
In singles play, Poric put on a clinical match at the number two singles position against ITA number 36-ranked player Clark. He fell in the first set 6-2, but came back and won the second set in a tiebreak 6-5. In the third set match tiebreak, both players battled hard exchanging points but in the end Poric couldn’t pull it out as he fell 11-9 in the final set to Clark.
“I thought for our first match, we played very well”, said head men’s tennis coach Rod Ray. “We need a couple more matches under our belt to really get going, but I’m excited for the rest of the season”.
Wofford returns to action on Thursday January 23rd when they travel to Winthrop to battle the Eagles at 3:00 p.m. The Terriers’ home opener is on Sunday January 26th when they host Mercer University at the John E. Reeves Tennis Center. The match will begin at 1:00 p.m.
Coastal Carolina 4, UNCG 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s tennis team suffered a tough 4-3 loss to defending Big South Champion Coastal Carolina Friday night at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
The Spartans fall to 0-1 in their first dual match of the season while Coastal Carolina improves to 1-1 with the comeback victory. The grueling first match of the season lasted five hours plus, coming down to the final match at No. 5 singles.
With the match tied 3-3, junior Cameron Smith battled to the very end but fell to freshman Jabor Al-Mutawa in three sets, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Smith was able to win the first set tiebreaker, 7-4, but dropped the final two sets in a back-and-forth affair.
In doubles, UNCG took a 1-0 lead against Coastal Carolina after winning two of three doubles matches. At No. 3 doubles, Rick Timmerman and Garik Yedigarian took down freshman Nazhone Wilkins and senior Jimmy Roueche, 8-4.
The Spartans fought back to win at No. 1 doubles as sophomore James Dougherty and junior Randy Phillips defeated Leo Christofides and Phillppe Tsangaridis, 8-5.
The Blue and Gold clinched the point after sophomore Daniel Mack and senior Ahmet Sarioglu took down Ted Nisson and Jabor Al-Mutawa, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles.
In singles, Coastal Carolina tied the match at 1-1 when Nisson defeated Mack in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Phillips gave UNCG a 2-1 lead after winning in straights sets against Timmerman, 7-5, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
The Chanticleers tied the match at 2-2 after Yedigarian defeated Dougherty in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Gaston Murray won a tight first set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-2) before winning the second set, 6-3, to give the Spartans a 3-2 lead at No. 6 singles.
Coastal Carolina tied the match again at 3-3 when Tsangaridis won a tight three-setter against Sarioglu at No. 1 singles, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
UNCG has a quick turnaround to Raleigh, N.C. to face No. 35 NC State Saturday, Jan. 18 at 10 a.m.