Samford 6, Northern Kentucky 0
RICHMOND, KY. - The Samford University men’s tennis team earned a decisive 6-0 victory against the Northern Kentucky Norse on Saturday as the Bulldogs competed in a neutral-match contest held at the Greg Adams Tennis Center on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University.
"Overall, we played a solid match today,” said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. “Our doubles needs to be a lot better if we want to be successful though. We got off to a good start in singles. There was a big difference in our level of play when the energy was higher on certain courts and that made a big difference in the match. We’re looking forward to a tough match tomorrow versus Eastern Kentucky."
Samford (3-5) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead Saturday by claiming the all-important doubles point. The Bulldogs earned wins on courts No. 2 and No. 3, and the point was quickly clinched by Fares Kilani and Eduardo Lourido Sanchez as they topped Nick Lang and Jody Maginley of Northern Kentucky (1-5), 6-4, in the No. 3 contest.
On court No. 2, Samford’s doubles tandem comprised of Henry Moore and Austin Akers cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Norse’s Adrian Isache and Jack Carney.
With their wins, the Bulldogs’ Kilani and Lourido Sanchez improved to 3-3 in doubles play this season, while Moore and Akers moved to 3-4.
Samford dominated Saturday’s singles play and quickly garnered a 6-0 advantage behind five-consecutive, straight-set victories from Kilani, Akers, Trey Carter, Justin Ghavami and Jake Faundez. In the matchup on court No. 6, the Bulldogs’ Faundez improved his dual-match record on the season to 4-2 with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Northern Kentucky’s Balint Zsidai.
On court No. 5, the Bulldogs’ Lourido Sanchez and the Norse’s Isache didn’t finish their match once the overall result of the contest was decided.
UNCG 5, Gardner-Webb 2
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The UNCG men’s tennis team used a strong singles outing to take down Gardner-Webb, 5-2, on the road Saturday in Boiling Springs, N.C.
The Spartans improve to 4-2 on the season and Gardner-Webb falls to 4-5 on the year.
In doubles, Gardner-Webb won all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Adam Schmidy and Yaroslav Prostakov defeated redshirt sophomore William Albright and freshman Logan Walker, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs clinched the point after Brendan Dempsey and Benjamin Kaszas took down sophomore Warren Bryan and senior Cameron Smith, 6-3, at No. 2 doubles.
In the final doubles match, Nikita Zverkov and Ernest Alberch won in a tiebreaker against senior Randy Phillips and freshman Connor Thompson, 7-6 (7-1) at No. 1 doubles.
The Spartans dominated in singles winning five of the six matches to win easily 5-2.
Phillips won in straight sets against Kaszas, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles to tie the match at 1-1 overall. Thompson improves to 6-0 in singles with a tight 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, win against Alberch at No. 4 singles.
Gardner-Webb tied the match at 2-2 after Zverkov defeated junior Daniel Mack in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
At No. 5 singles, Bryan took down Dempsey in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 to give UNCG a 3-2 lead. Junior Gaston Murray clinched the victory with a close three set win against Korhan Ates, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2. Murray was able to respond after dropping the second set and won the third set, 6-2.
In the final singles match, Smith gave the Spartans their fifth point with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory against Prostakov at No. 3 singles.
USC Upstate 4, Chattanooga 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a 4-0 match at USC Upstate today. The Mocs were swept in doubles and lost the first three singles matches in today’s outdoor dual.
UTC was very competitive in two of the singles matches that were not finished. Sophomore Lucas Plesky was up (6-4, 3-4) against Jamie Yates at No. 3.
The match of the day was shaping up at No. 6 between John Peacey and Matt Bennion. Peacey won the first frame in a 7-6 marathon. He pulled out the tiebreaker 16-14, and was up 3-2 in the second when the team outcome was decided.
“It was a great effort by John,” stated head coach Carlos Garcia. “He gave the team a boost when he pulled out that first set. Unfortunately, we dug ourselves too big of a hole.”