The Citadel 7, Spartanburg Methodist 0
The Citadel 7, Benedict 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel tennis team blanked both Benedict 7-0 and Spartanburg Methodist 7-0 on Sunday at the Earle Tennis Center.
In the first doubles action of the day against Benedict, Elliot Sperr and Dillon Berkabile defeated Justin Payton and Takudswa Muswere 8-3 in the No. 1 position while Peter Bleach and Jackson Pride took down Shane Latchman and Giovanni Plater in the No. 2 slot. Oliver Dedding and Connor Grady defeated Zibusiso Ndimande and Frrukh Edgarov 8-5 in the No. 3 spot.
Against Spartanburg Methodist the duo of Sperr and Berkabile took down Zac Dye and Harry Reed 8-6. Bleach and Pride beat Alex Arkin and Will Price 8-1 in the No. 2 spot while the Bulldog duo of Dedding and Grady swept Walter Fowler and Dargan Antley 8-0 in the No. 3 slot.
In the No. 1 singles position, Sperr went 2-0 on the day with a victory over Benedict's Ndimande 6-0, 6-2 and SMC's Dye 6-4, 7-5.
Bleach netted two wins in the No. 2 position defeating the Tigers' Muswere 6-1, 6-2 and Reed from SMC, 6-1, 6-3.
Berkabile swept his singles competition with a 6-0, 6-0 win over SMC's Arkin and a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Benedict's Payton.
Pride went undefeated with two victories over the Tiger's Latchman 6-0, 7-6 and the Pioneers' Price 6-0, 6-0.
Dedding earned his first two wins of the season with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over SMC's Antley and a 6-2, 6-1 win against Benedict's Plater.
Bove recorded his first two wins of his collegiate career defeating Benedict's Edgarov in a hard fought three sets. After dropping the first set 3-6, Bove rallied back to win the next two 7-5, 6-1. He defeated the Pioneers' Fowler 6-0, 6-0.
The Bulldogs return to the courts on Thursday, Feb. 13 to take on East Carolina at the Earle Tennis Center at 2 p.m.
UNCG 7, USC Upstate 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. -The UNCG men’s tennis team finished the weekend with two victories after taking down USC Upstate, 7-0, Sunday afternoon at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
UNCG took the doubles point with two doubles victories. James Dougherty and Randy Phillips took down Matthias Kidler and Ramon Simonetti 6-3 at the No. 1 doubles spot. Ahmet Sarioglu and Daniel Mack won 6-5 after a 7-4 tiebreak win over Gonzalo Bianco and Yvon Haessig. Nazhone Wilkins and Cameron Smith fell 6-5 at No. 3 doubles. Jamie Yates and Rajanvir Dharni won the tiebreaker, 7-4.
At No. 1 singles, Sarioglu defeated Simonetti 6-3, 6-1 to put the Spartans up 2-0.
Phillips took down Bianco 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles for the third point of the afternoon.
Dougherty fell in set one 6-2 to Haessig, but bounced back to win sets two and three 6-3, 6-0. Dougherty clinched the match with his three set victory.
Mack finished fourth at No. 5 singles and defeated Dharni 6-2, 6-2.
Gaston Murray beat Jamie Yates 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.At No. 6 singles, Smith defeated Carlos Tajes 6-5 (7-4), 6-4.
With the win, UNCG improves to 2-2 on the season.
Mississippi State 7, Samford 0
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The No. 69 Samford University men’s tennis team competed in its third-consecutive road match against a nationally-ranked opponent Sunday as the Bulldogs were defeated by the ninth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, 7-0, in a nonconference matchup held at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
Samford (1-3) will next be in action Friday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a four-game homestand against the UTSA Roadrunners to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
After opening their season with a 5-1 victory over Mercer, the Bulldogs have dropped three straight dual-match decisions, but all three of the losses have come versus ranked opponents. Already this season, Samford has squared off with No. 9-ranked Mississippi State (7-0), No. 46 Elon and No. 56 Indiana.
MSU took an early 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point. The Bulldogs then swept the singles matches to record the 7-0 win.
Saturday’s loss marked the first time that the Bulldogs were swept, 7-0, in a dual match since losing at Mississippi State last season by a similar score Feb. 23. MSU was ranked No. 11 in the nation during last year’s meeting.
With Sunday’s loss, Samford fell to 3-11 all-time against the Bulldogs. SU has been defeated in seven straight matches with Mississippi State and the Bulldogs have not been victorious in the rivalry since 1975.
Mississippi State improved to 4-0 against ranked opponents in 2014 as the Bulldogs started 7-0 for the second straight season and the fourth time in program history. MSU has won its last eight matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre dating back to last season.