Wofford 7, King University 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Walker Heffron’s three-set victory finalized a 7-0 win for the Wofford College men’s tennis team over the King Tornadoes in their season debut on Sunday afternoon at the Reeves Tennis Center.
Heffron, a Charleston, South Carolina native, sealed the sweep for Wofford, concluding singles action at No. 3, battling to a dramatic tiebreaker victory against Lennard Keswani, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).
“I thought our guys did great,” 15th year head coach Rod Ray said on the season opener. “I’m really proud of them. King played hard. They had some really talented players, and it was a great first match for us.
“We were pushed in a couple of matches, but our guys came through when they needed to, and I’m not surprised that they did. They are really tough minded guys. We played well in some spots and not so well in others, but overall I thought we competed well and maintained our sportsmanship while doing so.
The match began with the Terriers taking all three doubles matchups for the first team point. Senior Rob Galloway and sophomore Haris Poric doubled up at the No. 1 spot, knocking off King’s Moritz Poswait and Luis Delgado, 6-0. Heffron and junior Parks Thompson played at No. 2, winning 6-3 over Seth Carelli and Lennard Keswani. At No. 3, sophomore Trevor Gotkowski and junior David Sklar toppled Makar Grtsevych and Aukiti Madasaui, 6-1.
In singles play, Thompson was the first to finish, earning a 6-1, 6-0 win over Carelli in the No. 4 position. Freshman Parks Schoen made his collegiate debut at No. 5 for the Terriers, finishing second with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Grytsevych. Next came Sklar, who took home a 6-0, 6-4 win against Madasaui at No. 6.
The top three spots contained more parity. Galloway finished fourth in singles play, earning a 6-3, 6-4 win over Delgado. Poric fought for a 6-5, 6-4 win over Poswait at the No. 2 spot. Heffron wrapped up the remaining match at No. 3.
Belmont 4, Chattanooga 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - For the second straight day, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s tennis went down to the wire before falling 4-3 to a regional rival. Today’s loss came at the hands of Belmont at the Hixson Racquet Club.
“I know it was another tough 4-3 decision today but in reality our team played really well even though we didn’t have a great doubles performance,” stated head coach Carlos Garcia. “We have been a little bit blessed with having great doubles starts, but today obviously didn’t go our way.”
The Mocs (0-4) had won two of three doubles points coming into the match with the Bruins (4-1). Belmont dominated doubles with a 6-1 win at No. 1 and a 6-0 win at No. 2. They were leading at No. 3, but that match was called with the point already decided.
“The guys didn’t let that bother them and they came out and played the best singles that we have played all season,” said Garcia. “We had our backs against the wall, trying to win four points and we almost did.”
Belmont went up 2-0 when Marko Lovrinovic defeated senior Pavels Grigorjevs (6-1, 6-1) at No. 2. Sophomore Nic Wilson and junior Gino Delavalle helped UTC even the match at 2-2 with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. Marco Antu put Belmont back on top with his win over junior Nick Wingord at No. 1.
Junior Luke Saunders and sophomore Lucas Plesky both dropped their first sets at No. 3 and No. 4. They both battled back to force a third set. Saunders dropped his match just before Plesky won to close out the scoring at 4-3.
“The guys are really starting to feel more comfortable, so I think today was the start of brighter things to come,” stated Garcia.
Portland 4, ETSU 3
SEATTLE - Despite opening play by taking the doubles point, ETSU suffered a narrow, 4-3 setback to Portland as the Buccaneers wrapped up a three-day road trip to Seattle, Wash.
Each of ETSU's doubles tandems earned 7-6 victories to give the Bucs (1-4) a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
Sophomores David Biosca and Ismael Merino earned three-set wins at No. 1 and No. 5 singles, respectively; however, the Pilots (2-0) captured four of the six singles point to clinch the match, 4-3.
"It hurts to lose a close one like this," ETSU head coach Yaser Zaatini said. "Portland is a solid, well-coached team. We left some chances out there, especially after taking the doubles point, but this is a tough place to play and all of these teams are "indoor tennis" oriented."
The Bucs will continue non-conference play next weekend as they visit Atlanta, Ga., to take on Georgia Tech.
"I believe we have a very competitive squad and we will get better as the season progresses," Zaatini said. "I am disappointed, but proud of the way we fought. We've just got to turn the page and move on."