Mercer 5, Gardner-Webb 2
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s tennis team opened its home season with a 5-2 win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.
The Bears started the match strong and won the doubles point. Arnav Mohanty and Arsav Mohanty won their match 6-1, followed by Sam Philp and Oliver Snaider with a 6-2 victory over Gardner-Webb.
Gardner-Webb tied the match, 2-2, after winning at the No. 1 and 2 spots in singles play. Arnav Mohanty was Mercer’s first player to win a singles point. However, Philp, Manuel de Luis and Arsav Mohanty each won their singles matches to seal the win for the Bears.
Next up, Mercer will play a double-header at No. 39 Auburn on Saturday, Jan. 31. The first match is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
Georgia Tech 6, Furman 1
ATLANTA, Ga. – Georgia Tech topped Furman, 6-1, Saturday in men's tennis action at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta, Ga.
The Paladins won the doubles point to open the match. The Yellow Jackets' Cole Fiegel and Nathan Rakitt blanked senior Jacob Behal and freshman Stefan Rhodes, 6-0, at flight three, before sophomore Adam Steryous and freshman Cameron Green teamed up to beat Christopher Eubanks and Michael Kay, 6-4, in the number two matchup. Juniors Matt Browne and Ben Horst clinched the point with a 7-6 victory versus Carlos Benito and Eduardo Segura in the top-seeded match-up.
Georgia Tech swept the singles matches for the team win. 49th-ranked Nathan Rakitt held on to defeat Steryous, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, at flight one, and Eubanks topped Browne, 6-3, 6-4, at flight two. In the third-seeded match, Segura topped Horst, 6-4, 6-4, while Kay beat Green, 7-6, 6-1, at number four. Benito posted a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Behal at number five, and Fiegel completed the sweep, posting a 6-0, 6-1 win versus sophomore Juan Sheppard at flight six.
Furman (0-5) will open the 2015 home season Tuesday when the Paladins play host to USC Spartanburg at 3 p.m. at the Mickel Tennis Center.
Austin Peay 4, Chattanooga 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a tight 4-3 match to Austin Peay in its home opener today. The Mocs won the doubles point, but could not maintain their momentum in singles play at the Hixson Racquet Club.
"Today was a tough one to lose with an in-state rival like Austin Peay," said head coach Carlos Garcia. "We were ready to play today, unfortunately I felt like Austin Peay was a little more poised after they lost the doubles point.
"They just had a great start in the singles winning three matches real quickly to take the 1-0 deficit to a 3-1 lead so that kind of gave a lot of hope to a lot of their other players still on the court."
Juniors Luke Saunders and Nick Wingord set the tone early in doubles. They posted a 6-1 win over Aleksas Tverijonas and Aaron Jumonville at No. 2. Junior John Peacey and sophomore Lucas Plesky clinched the point with a 6-4 win over Dimitar Ristovski and Iago Seffrin at No. 1. Junior Gino Delavalle and Nic Wilson finished off the Governors in doubles with a win at No. 3.
APSU evened the match quickly when Peacey was forced to retire at No. 6. Ristovski gave the Govs a 2-1 lead with his (6-0, 7-5) win over senior Pavels Grigorjevs at No. 1.
The Govs went up 3-1 when Jumonville defeated Plesky (6-4, 6-4) at No. 3. The Mocs were trailing in two of the three remaining matches, but managed to mount a strong comeback.
Saunders won his match at No. 4 and Delavalle bounced back after losing the first set for a win at No. 5. Down a set and the team scored tied at 3-3, Wingord forced a breaker in the second, but could not pull out the win to extend the match.