Elon 6, Appalachian State 1
ELON, N.C. – Playing around a one hour and 43 minute rain delay, the Elon University men's tennis team clinched its second straight Southern Conference regular season title Wednesday, April 9, with a 6-1 victory over Appalachian State at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
The title is Elon's fifth regular season championship in the last nine years. The win also gives the 44th-ranked Phoenix a perfect 9-0 record in SoCon play. This marks the second time in program history Elon has accomplished the feat. The 2007 squad went 9-0 in conference action in Leonard's third season has head coach of the Phoenix.
Elon was close to winning the doubles point before the rain came, but the long delay didn't have an impact on the pairings of Stefan Fortmann and Juan Madrid on court No. 3 and Cameron Silverman and Jordan Kaufman on court No. 1. Fortmann and Madrid needed just one point after the rain delay to clinch an 8-3 win while Silverman and Kaufman finished a break, then proceeded to serve for the set to win 8-3.
As the match turned to singles, Madrid struggled on court No. 6 and fell 6-1, 6-1 to allow the Mountaineers to tie it at one, but Elon took over from there.
Silverman finished just minutes after with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep on court No. 1, then Kaufman topped Jack Maddocks 6-3, 6-1 on court No. 5 to pull Elon within a point of the title.
Brian Kowalski clinched the match for the Phoenix with a 6-1, 6-3 win on court No. 4 against Daniel Hoang. The junior also started the season by clinching Elon's upset of No. 7 Duke on January 10 with a three-set win against Raphael Hemmeler.
Fortmann increased the lead to 5-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court No. 2. He was shortly followed by Robert Lindgren when he won in a super tiebreaker on court No. 3, 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) to give Elon the 6-1 victory.
Samford 6, Appalachian State 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Samford University men’s tennis team earned its third-consecutive victory Wednesday as the Bulldogs tallied a 6-1 Southern Conference triumph against the Chattanooga Mocs in a Southern Rail Rivalry matchup held at the UTC Tennis Center.
With Wednesday’s victory, Samford (8-9, 5-3 SoCon) extended its winning streak to three-straight matches. Since coming up short against Furman on March 28, the Bulldogs have reeled off consecutive conference triumphs over Wofford, Georgia Southern and Chattanooga (6-13, 1-8 SoCon).
Samford has battled through a plethora of injuries all season long, but has found its stride here late in the 2014 campaign. The Bulldogs have been victorious in five of their last seven matches and will enter next weekend’s SoCon Tournament with a full head of steam.
On Wednesday, Samford claimed the all-important doubles point by tallying victories on courts No. 2 and No. 3.
The Bulldogs kicked off the competition with an 8-3 triumph from Austin Akers and Fares Kilani in the No. 2 doubles contest. Samford then used a thrilling 8-7 victory from the freshmen combination of Liam Sullivan and Austin Ferrer on court No. 3 to secure its early 1-0 lead over Chattanooga.
With their wins, Akers and Kilani improved to 9-6 on the season, while Sullivan and Ferrer moved to 1-1.
In singles play, the Bulldogs were defeated on court No. 6, but registered quick straight-set victories on courts No. 1-5 to solidify its 6-1 overall victory in the Southern Rail Rivalry contest.
On court No. 5, Sullivan turned in the most dominant performance of the afternoon as Samford’s true freshman native of Richmond, Va., cruised past the Mocs’ Austin Boaz, 6-0, 6-0. Senior Elliot Barnwell improved his singles record on the season to 12-5 with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph on court No. 1, while Kilani posted a 6-2, 6-3 win on court No. 2.
With his victory, Kilani moved to 10-7 in dual-match play this year.
Furman 6, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Furman men’s tennis team picked up a 6-1 road win over Davidson Wednesday at the Covington Tennis Courts in Davidson, N.C.
The Paladins won two out of three doubles matches to clinch the opening point. Senior Joel Cook teamed with sophomore Matt Brown for an 8-3 win over Connor Evins and Robert Lightbourn at flight one, and freshman Adam Steryous and junior Jacob Behal notched an 8-7(5) advantage versus Ethan Kallick and Evan Watkins in the second doubles contest. The Wildcats’ Ricky Saad and Alex Howard defeated sophomore Ben Horst and senior Alex Christ, 8-6, in the flight three match-up.
Furman won five out of six singles matches, including three in three sets, for the team win. Steryous beat Lightbourn, 6-2, 6-1, in the top contest, while junior Luke Synn downed Evins, 6-0, 5-7, 7-6(4) at flight three. Cook posted a quick 6-3, 6-4 victory over J.B. Gough in the flight four match, then freshman Juan Sheppard held on for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win against Watkins at number five. In the number six match, Behal topped Saad, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3.
Davidson scored its lone point at number two singles, where Kallick defeated Brown, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5).
Georgia State 6, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern men's tennis was defeated by Georgia State 6-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Wallis Tennis Center. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 4-16 on the season.
In doubles competition, Christian Kerrigan and Albert Codina Sala were defeated in the third spot by Felipe Jaworski and Sofiane Chevallier, 8-4. In the No. 1 position, Oliver Webb and Kyle Hoffman were knocked off by Robert Schulze and Jannis Koeke, 8-4, giving the Panthers the 1-0 advantage.
In singles play, Christian Kerrigan was victorious over Valentin Horvat in the sixth singles spot, 6-2, 7-6. Kerrigan notched the Eagles sole win for the match.
The Ealges return to action to at 1pm on Saturday, April 12th at the Wallis Tennis Center against The Citadel.