Furman 7, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Furman men’s tennis team blanked Chattanooga, 7-0, Sunday at the UTC Tennis Courts in Chattanooga, Tenn., to improve to a perfect 5-0 in Southern Conference play and extend its winning streak to five matches.
The Paladins swept the doubles matches to open the match. Sophomore Matt Browne and senior Joel Cook held on to defeat Pavels Grigorjevs and Derrick Brown, 8-7, in the top match-up, and junior Jacob Behal teamed with freshman Adam Steryous for an 8-5 advantage over Jorge Varon and Luke Saunders at flight two. In the third doubles contest, senior Alex Christ and sophomore Ben Horst beat Austin Boaz and Gino Delavalle, 8-2, for the Furman sweep.
In singles play, Furman won all six matches in straight sets. Steryous topped Grigorjevs, 6-2, 6-4, in the top-flighted match, and Browne defeated Saunders, 7-5, 6-2, at number two. Junior Luke Synn registered a 6-3, 6-3 victory versus Varon in the flight three contest, and Cook posted a 6-4-, 6-2 win over Delavalle in the number four match-up. At flight five, Behal beat Boaz, 6-2, 6-2, while Horst completed the slate with a 6-0, 6-1 advantage against Brown in the number six match.
Furman (11-7, 5-0 SoCon) returns to action on Thursday when the Paladins travel to Boone, N.C. to square off against Appalachian State at 2:30 p.m. in a battle of two unbeaten SoCon teams.
Davidson 7, The Citadel 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. — For the first time this year, the Davidson men’s tennis team blanked its opponent by taking a 7-0 win at home vs. The Citadel to net its second Southern Conference victory of the year on a windy Sunday at the Covington Tennis Courts.
The Wildcats (5-13, 2-5 SoCon) won their second league match in the last three, while earning their 20th win overall in the all-times series vs. The Citadel (2-25, 0-7 SoCon). The ‘Cats pushed their winning streak to seven in a row in the series.
Davidson started the match by taking all three doubles positions, winning the doubles point for the eighth time this year. Robert Lightbourn and Connor Evins won at No. 1 by the score of 8-5 to even their record at 3-3 on the season.
The pair of Ethan Kallick and Evan Watkins cruised to an 8-1 decision at No. 2 for their third win together, and freshman Ricky Saad and Alex Howard won their first as a duo at No. 3 by the score of 8-6.
The winning continued into singles play with the Wildcats sweeping all six positions. Leading the way was J.B. Gough, who won his third match in a row to improve to 7-6 (4-3 SoCon) by taking an easy 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4.
The senior trio of Lightbourn, Evins and Kallick took home victories at the top three spots. Lightbourn needed a third set, overcoming a 6-4 defeat in the first set to win 6-4 and 7-5 in the next two sets for his fourth win of the season.
Evins registered a 6-4, 6-1 win to collect his team-leading ninth victory of the season, while Kallick rolled to his fourth win in the last five matches behind a 6-0, 6-0 decision at No. 3.
The final two team points came from Watkins, who eased to a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at No. 5 and Saad, who evened his record at 3-3 with a nice 6-0, 6-3 victory at the last singles spot.
Davidson finishes out a three-match homestand against cross-county rival Charlotte, April 3, at 3 p.m.
Samford 4, Wofford 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Elliot Barnwell clinched the match in three tight sets on the top court for Samford as the Wofford men's tennis team fell to the Bulldogs, 4-3, in a Southern Conference match at the Samford Tennis Center Sunday afternoon.
The loss moves the Terriers to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in the Southern Conference while the Bulldogs improve to 6-9 overall and 3-3 in the conference with the win.
After Wofford took the lead in the doubles point with a forfeit at No. 3, Fares Kilani and Trey Carter won on the second court 8-5 to tie up the point. Top court duo of Rob Galloway and Haris Poric then clinched the doubles point defeating Barnwell and Liam Sullivan 8-4 to give Wofford a 1-0 lead.
In singles play, the Terriers took an early 2-0 lead with Samford forfeiting the No. 6 singles match. The Bulldogs won three singles matches and Walker Heffron defeated Austin Akers, 7-5, 6-2, for Wofford on the third court to make the score tied at 3-3 with only the top court match left to finish.
Barnwell then clinched the match for the Bulldogs using three sets to defeat Galloway giving them a 4-3 victory. Barnwell won the first set with ease, 6-2, but then Galloway battled back in the second, 7-5, to tie up the match. The third set was close, but Barnwell prevailed 7-5.