Elon 6, Davidson 1
ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's tennis team, ranked No. 46 in the country, made quick work of the visiting Davidson Wildcats today, March 9, with a 6-1 victory at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Cameron Silverman, ranked No. 26 in the country, clinched the match for the Phoenix with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Robert Lightbourn on court No. 1. Silverman was one of three Elon players to drop three games or less on the afternoon against the Wildcats with Jordan Kaufman losing two in a 6-0, 6-2 victory on court No. 5 andJuan Madrid dropping just one in the first set on the way to a 6-1, 6-0 win on court No. 6.
Stefan Fortmann followed Silverman minutes after the senior clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court No. 4 over J.B. Gough. The score marks the second match in a row Fortmann has won on singles court No. 4 by the score of 6-2, 6-2.
Brian Kowalski earned the sixth and final point for the Phoenix with a 7-5, 6-2 win on court No. 3 against Davidson's Ethan Kallick. The junior got a break to end the first set after trading games with Kallick throughout the previous games.
Robert Lindgren was the only Elon player to fall on the afternoon, as the sophomore lost a 6-2, 6-3 decision on court No. 2 to Connor Evins.
Elon swept the doubles point with Fortmann and Madrid picking up a convincing 8-1 victory on court No. 3. They were followed by Silverman and Kaufman, who topped Kallick and Evan Watkins on court No. 1 by a score of 8-3. Kowalski and Lindgren polished off the doubles sweep with a 8-4 victory on court No. 2.
UNCG 7, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, G.A.-The UNCG men’s tennis improved to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play with a 7-0 win over Georgia Southern.
The Spartans have won seven-straight matches, and six of those seven wins were 7-0 victories.
UNCG earned the doubles point to start up 1-0 on the day. At No. 1 doubles James Dougherty and Randy Phillips defeated Christian Kerrigan and Daniel Rush 8-2.
With Ahmet Sarioglu out of the lineup, the No.2 and No. 3 doubles lineups were adjusted. Gaston Murray and Cameron Smith took down Kyle Hoffman and Nico DeGroof 8-6 at No. 2 doubles. At No. 3 doubles, Daniel Mack and Nazhone Wilkins defeated Albert Codina Sala and Marco Osorio 8-6.
At No. 1 singles, Dougherty defeated Oliver Webb in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3. The first set ended in a close fight after Dougherty won the tie breaker 9-7.
At No. 2 singles, Phillips beat Codina Sala 6-4, 6-3. Gaston Murray took down Kyle Hoffman 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Mack fell in the first set 4-6 to Osorio but bounced back to take set two 7-6 after a 7-4 tie breaker win. The third set went to a super tiebreaker and Mack took the victory 1-0 (10-6).
At No. 5 singles, Smith defeated Rafael Racy 6-1, 6-4. Another tiebreaker was required at No. 6 singles. James Flynn won the first set over Nico DeGroof 7-6 after a 7-1 tiebreaker win and then secured another Spartan point with a 6-0 set two win.
Chattanooga 6, Alabama State 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team won it’s second match in a row today against the Alabama State Hornets. This is the first time this season the Mocs have posted back-to-back wins.
“Anytime you win two in a row, and with a conference win thrown in there, it’s obviously a great feeling for us,” head coach Carlos Garcia said. “Winning two in a row is something we haven’t done this year. I’m happy the guys are able to feel a little success and hopefully gain some confidence.”
Chattanooga (4-7, 1-2 SoCon) was unable to start off hot early when they dropped all three of their doubles matches.
After doubles, the Mocs cranked up the pace and took the match with consecutive wins from Gino Delavalle, Luke Saunders, Derrick Brown, and Jorge Varon.
“Today was a team effort,” Garcia said. “We had a slow start but the second half of the match we played beautifully. I was happy to see us play as a whole instead of individually.”
This is the second time this weekend that the Mocs have dropped the doubles point and came back to win it in the singles.
“It’s nice to be singles heavy because there’s more points there,” Garcia said. ”I feel like we need to improve the doubles, because against the good teams we’re going to need both facets of the game.”
With the momentum rolling Chattanooga hopes to sustain the confidence for Murray State on March 20 at UTC.
“Confidence is a scary thing when you can get a hold of some from time to time,” Garcia said.