Wofford 7, North Carolina A&T 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s tennis team made quick work of the visiting North Carolina A&T Aggies, earning a 7-0 victory at the Reeves Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon in just 108 minutes.
The freshman Aggie program struggled against Wofford (2-1), as the Terriers flew through doubles play. Wofford dropped just one game during doubles. The duo of David Sklar and Trevor Gotkowski finished first, earning the initial doubles win at No. 2, 6-0 over Brett Caban and Kyle Scott. Seniors Rob Galloway and Walker Heffron wrapped up second, with a 6-0 win over John Wilson IV and Dreshaun Jarmon. Sophomore Patrick Longest and freshman Jack Thomas saw their first action of the season, earning a 6-1 win over Joshua Bailey and Nicholas Whitehead at No. 3.
In singles the Terriers wasted no time. After missing last season with an injury, Andrew Graham captured his first dual victory, finishing 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 6 position over A&T’s Whitehead. Gotkowski finished second, claiming a 6-0, 6-2 win against Bailey. Galloway finished third, grabbing a 6-0, 6-1 win over Wilson IV. Next came Parks Schoen, who competed at the No. 4 position, defeating Caban 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Jack Thomas collected his first singles win of his collegiate career, taking down Scott at the No. 5 spot, 6-1, 6-2. Heffron wrapped up the singles action. After a tiebreaker in the first set, the senior earned a 7-6 (0), 6-0 win.
Wofford will play again Thursday, when former conference member Appalachian State comes to Spartanburg, as the two clash at the Reeves Tennis Center at 2:30 p.m.
Chattanooga 7, Murray State 0
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Chattanooga Mocs broke through with its first win of the spring today. The men’s tennis team shut out Murray State 7-0 in Memphis, Tenn., this afternoon. UTC won all nine matches to improve to 1-5 on the year.
The Mocs played a tough early schedule that included two ranked teams. UTC used some of that experience today to score a big win over a regional foe. Murray State remained winless at 0-4.
“We are on the board,” stated head coach Carlos Garcia. “We were hungry for this one. We have been playing better and it was nice to get the win. Hopefully, it is a sign of better things to come as we move on with the season.”
Chattanooga jumped out to a 1-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches. It was the third time this season Chattanooga took an early advantage after winning doubles.
Senior Pavels Grigorjevs put Chattanooga up 2-0 with a quick (6-0, 6-1) win over Aleks Mitric at No. 2. Junior Nick Wingord followed with a (6-4, 6-1) win over Max McLean at No. 1.
Junior Gino Delavalle clinched the team win with his (6-0, 6-0) shutout against Srdjan Trosic at No. 4. The one tough match of the day came at No. 3. Junior Luke Saunders needed three sets to put away Will True (6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4)).
Sophomore Derrick Brown won in straight sets at No. 5. Freshman Michael Birnbaum played a pro set against Anjan Kashyab at No. 6 since the outcome was already decided. He won that one 8-6.
Auburn 6, Mercer 1
Auburn 6, Mercer 1
AUBURN, Ala. – The Mercer men's tennis team dropped a pair of 6-1 matches to No. 35 Auburn on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
In the first match, Sam Philp and Oliver Snaider were up 5-0 in doubles before Snaider injured his ankle. Philp and Snaider played the set to 6-6 before Auburn won the doubles point and play was stopped.
Additionally, Arsav Mohanty won his singles point (6-4, 7-6 (7-3)) against Petar Tomic in the first match.
In the second match, freshman Ruben Vanoppen defeated Viboosh Chandrasekar (6-0, 6-3) to pick up Mercer's only point of the match. Fellow freshman Philp also played well, stepping up at the number one spot.
UNCA 4, UNCG 2
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNCG men’s tennis team dropped its season opener at UNC Asheville, 4-2, Saturday at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown.
UNCG falls to 0-1 and UNC Asheville remains undefeated at 4-0 to start the 2015 campaign.
In a new doubles format this season, teams play to six points instead of a normal eight points from last season. Thomas Panoulas and Reid Dillon defeated Daniel Mack, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
The Bulldogs clinched the point with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles as Brett Landau and Alex Croker took down Randy Phillips and freshman Connor Thompson.
Josh Swindler and Daniel Kripak were tied with Cameron Smith and William Albright 5-5 at No. 3 doubles when the point was won.
In singles, the Spartans battled back as Phillips defeated Panoulas in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to even the match at 1-1. UNC Asheville regained the lead at 2-1 when Croker took down Smith, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.
The Bulldogs made it 3-1 after Kripak won in the third set over Mack, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. UNCG cut the overall score to 3-2 after Thompson won in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) at No. 5 singles against Landau.
Swindler would clinch the victory for UNC Asheville with a tough three set win against Bryan, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5). Swindler was able to win the close third set tiebreaker 7-5 to win the match.
Freshman Victor Marum lost his first set against Will Goldberg, 7-6 (9-7) and the matche went unfinished.
Georgia Tech 6, ETSU 1
ATLANTA - In the midst of a nine-match road swing, the ETSU men's tennis team fell to No. 72 Georgia Tech, 6-1, Saturday in Atlanta, Ga.
The Yellow Jackets (4-0) began the day by winning the doubles point, taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.
The Buccaneers' (1-5) No. 3 doubles tandem of Sebastian Yllera and Conner Huertas came away victorious, defeating Christopher Eubanks and Michael Kay, 6-4.
Georgia Tech, which rose to No. 72 in the latest ITA Rankings, then won five of the match's six singles spots in straight-set fashion to clinch the victory.
Huertas was the lone ETSU player to earn a singles victory, winning at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 7-5, over Michael Kay.
Four of ETSU's first six matches have come against ranked opponents, and the Bucs have suffered setbacks in each match.
ETSU had been ranked in each ITA rankings poll prior to this week.