Elon 7, Greensboro College 0
ELON, N.C. – Playing just its second match in 21 days, the 47th-ranked Elon University men’s tennis team looked sharp in a 7-0 sweep of the Greensboro College Pride today, Feb. 16, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
On a cold, windy afternoon, the Phoenix worked quickly to dispatch the Pride on both the singles and doubles courts.
Elon started the match by sweeping the Pride in doubles as Dan Sablik and Ismael Sanchez-Delfin won 8-0 on court No. 3 to get the Phoenix off and running. They were soon followed by Juan Madrid and Chris Humphreys on court No. 2, as the duo topped Matt Miller and Ian Weiner 8-1 to clinch the point for Elon. Moments later, Robert Lindgren and Christopher Geaslen polished off the doubles sweep on court No. 1 with an 8-2 win over Matt Troy and Kyle Gatti.
The Phoenix continued their dominance over the Pride in the singles portion of the match, as Elon only conceded four games overall to Greensboro players on the way to finishing off the sweep.
Geaslen was first off the court with a 6-0, 6-0 win on court No. 6 against Chris Espinoza. He was followed by Sablik on court No. 4, who also finished with a sweep of Tyler McLemore. Madrid also swept his match on court No. 2 against Matt Troy.
Both Humphreys and Sanchez-Delfin came up with 6-1, 6-0 wins, as Humphreys topped Gatti on court No. 3 and Sanchez-Delfin beat Weiner on court No. 5.
Lindgren was the only Elon player to drop a game in any second set of the afternoon, but the junior won 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 1.
The Phoenix travels to Wilmington, N.C. Friday, Feb. 21, to take on the UNC Wilmington Seahawks at 1 p.m. Elon will stay on the coast to take on future Southern Conference member East Tennessee State a day later, Feb. 22, at 12 p.m.
Appalachian State 6, UNC Asheville 1
BOONE, N.C. – Despite a two-week absence from competition, Appalachian State University men's tennis showed no rust as it dominated UNC Asheville in a 6-1 win on Sunday at Deer Valley Racquet Club.
The Mountaineers (2-1) picked up their second-straight victory and avenged last year's 6-1 loss to the Bulldogs (3-3) with an utterly dominant effort.
Appalachian set the tone early as it won the doubles point thanks to a pair of 8-6 doubles victories
by the pairings of Zach Bost/Sebastien King at No.1 and Oliver Casey/Daniel Hoang at No. 2.
UNCA was able to pick up its own 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles, but it would not matter as the Mountaineers won the doubles point for the third time in as many matches.
In singles play, Hoang picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win at the No. 3 spot while Casey took a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 2 to put Appalachian up by a 3-0 score. With the Mountaineers just match away from the win, the Bulldogs responded at No. 1 as Daniel Kripak defeated King by a 6-2, 6-4 final.
It would be the only hiccup in Appalachian's lineup as Bost won by a 6-3, 6-4 final at No. 4. Jack Maddocks won 6-2, 6-3 and Matt Saltsgaver finished off UNCA with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6.
Appalachian State returns to action when it heads to Conway, S.C. to take on Coastal Carolina (Feb. 21) and Richmond (Feb. 22) in the first of what will be 12-straight matches on the road.
Tulane 6, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The No. 69-ranked Samford University men’s tennis team faced its fourth nationally-ranked opponent of the young 2014 dual-match season Sunday as the Bulldogs suffered a 6-1 setback against the No. 73 Tulane Green Wave in a Southern Region contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
“Today was a tough match and Tulane was just that much better than us today,” said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. “We are aware of the adjustments that we need to make as a team and now it is our responsibility to grow and rise to those challenges.”
With Sunday’s loss, Samford (1-5) moved to 1-2 this season when playing at home. After earning a 5-1 season-opening victory against Mercer, the Bulldogs have dropped consecutive matches to UTSA, 4-3, and Tulane (6-2), 6-1, at the Samford Tennis Center.
Four of the Bulldogs’ five losses this season have come against nationally-ranked opponents. Samford has already faced an extremely tough schedule in 2014 and has suffered defeats to No. 9-ranked Mississippi State, No. 46 Elon, No. 56 Indiana and No. 73 Tulane.
In Sunday’s showdown between two of the top-ranked teams in the Southern Region, the Green Wave escaped with the all-important doubles point by hanging on for victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2.
Samford’s tandem of Fares Kilani and Austin Akers tallied a quick 8-3 triumph in the No. 3 doubles contest, but then Tulane’s combinations on No. 1 and No. 2 earned close victories of 8-6 and 8-4, respectively.
In singles play, the Green Wave was able to record wins on five of the six courts to give Tulane its final 6-1 victory.
Samford’s win occurred on court No. 3 as Akers outlasted the Green Wave’s Jao Chi-Shan, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8. With the triumph, the Bulldogs’ junior from Lexington, Ky., improved to 2-3 in singles play this season.
“Austin did a great job today in both singles and doubles,” Esmail said. “He came to play, and his will to win was what got him through his matches today. We need him to continue to compete with that same mentality as today in order for us to be successful. We are looking forward to Wednesday, as it is another opportunity to compete and get better.”
The Samford University men’s tennis team will next be in action Wednesday as the Bulldogs continue play in their four-match homestand against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in an in-state duel to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.