UNCG 5, Campbell 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After dropping the doubles point, the UNCG men’s tennis team stormed back to win five of six singles matches to earn a 5-2 win in the season opener against Campbell Saturday at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
The Spartans improve to 1-1 on the season while Campbell falls to 1-4 with the loss.
The Camels earned a close doubles point after winning two of the three matches to take a 1-0 lead. Senior Randy Phillips and freshman Connor Thompson defeated Steven Billington and Jonathan O’Neal, 8-4 at No. 1 doubles.
Campbell took the next two matches as Lukas Schaefer and Nicolas Rakitin took down freshman Logan Walker and sophomore Warren Bryan, 8-4.
In the final doubles match, senior Cameron Smith and Redshirt sophomore William Albright led 6-5 but lost three-straight games to Lorenz Schwab and Adrien Rossignon to fall 8-6 at No. 3 doubles.
In singles, the Blue and Gold came charging back as junior Gaston Murray tied the match at 1-1 after winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 against Marthinus Visser at No. 5 singles. Phillips won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3 against Billington at No. 1 singles to give UNCG a 2-1 advantage.
Campbell would tie the match at 2-2 after Schaefer defeated Bryan, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. At No. 4 singles, Smith picked up a 6-2, 6-4 victory against O’Neal to make it 3-2 UNCG.
Mack would clinch the match with a 6-3, 7-5 win against Rakitin, at No. 2 singles. In the final match, Thompson would defeated Jean-Marc Krone, 6-2, 6-7 (8-10), 1-0 (10-6) at No. 6 singles. Thompson lost the second set tiebreaker 10-8 but came back to win the third set super tiebreaker 10-6 to secure the team’s fifth point.
Jacksonville State 4, Chattanooga 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a 4-3 match against Jacksonville State this afternoon. The Mocs faced an experienced team and fought well, but fall today to bring their record to 1-6 for the season.
“It’s a tough loss and we’re all hurting a little bit just because we’ve had three 4-3 matches here on our home court and unfortunately we have come up short in all three of them” said head coach Carlos Garcia. “I thought today was our best effort that I’ve seen all season, even though we didn’t get the result we were looking for we did do a lot of good things that put us in a position to win.”
Chattanooga lost two of the three doubles matches early but jumped back quickly with two straight singles wins.
Sophomore Luke Plesky tied the match 1-1 with a (6-0, 6-3) win over Mathias Chaim at No. 4. Sophomore Derrick Brown followed him with a (6-4, 6-3) win over Felipe Wenzel at No. 6 to give the Mocs a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Jaryd Reese evened the match for Jacksonville State at 2-2 with a (6-3, 7-5) win over Junior Gino Delavalle at No. 5. Junior Nick Wingord pulled out a (7-6 (5), 6-2) win over Pedro Wagner at No. 1.
The match of the day came down to the final set at No. 2. Jeff Wendler-Filho posted a (3-6, 6-3, 7-5) win over UTC senior Pavels Grigorjevs to tie the match at 3-3. Junior Luke Saunders lost the final contest in three sets (0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4) shootout against Dylan Gee at No. 3.
Princeton 4, Furman 3
PRINCETON, N.J. – With the score knotted at 3-3, Thomas Colautti held on for a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Matt Browne at flight two as 54th-ranked Princeton slipped past Furman, 4-3, Saturday at Jadwin Gym in Princeton, N.J.
The Paladins won two of three doubles matches to clinch the opening point. Senior Jacob Behal and freshman Stefan Rhodes opened the match with a 6-2 victory over Kial Kaiser and Joshua Yablon at flight three, before Thomas Colautti and Zach McCourt downed juniors Matt Browne and Ben Horst, 6-2, to set up a decisive match at flight two. Rookie Cameron Green and sophomore Adam Steryous recorded a 7-5 win over Alexander Day and Ben Tso to claim the first point.
The Tigers won the first two singles matches to take a 2-1 lead as Kaiser beat Behal, 6-2, 6-4, at flight five, and Dan Richardson tallied a 6-4, 7-5 win versus sophomore Juan Sheppard at number six. Furman tied the match at 2-2 when Horst defeated Day, 7-6, 6-4, at flight four, then the Paladins went ahead 3-2 after Steryous topped McCourt, 7-5, 6-2, in the top-seeded match-up. Yablon came from behind to record a 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Green at number three, tying the score at 3-all and setting up the decisive match at flight two.
Clemson 4, Wofford 0
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s tennis team were outmatched on Saturday evening, dropping a 4-0 decision to the Tigers of Clemson University at Hoke Sloan Tennis Center.
In doubles action, the No. 3 spot was the first to finish, as Clemson’s Robert Dudley and Luke Johnson defeated junior David Sklar and sophomore Trevor Gotkowski, 6-2. At No. 2, Hampton Drake and Christian Harris took down senior Walker Heffron and junior Parks Thompson. No. 60 Hunter Harrington and Alejandro Augusto led senior Rob Galloway and sophomore Haris Poric, 4-3, but the match would go unfinished.
The Terriers held their own against the nationally ranked ACC foe in singles play. While no members of the Wofford(3-2) squad earned victories, four of the six matches went to three sets. Gotkowski was the first to fall, as Johnson took the match in two sets, 6-3, 6-1. Galloway finished next, going three sets with Augusto before conceding defeat, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Parks Thompson lost in what would be the deciding match, falling in a tight 7-5, 7-6 match to Dudley. Poric, Heffron and freshman Parks Schoen all went three unfinished sets. Poric ended 6-1, 6-7, 4-4, Heffron retired 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, and Schoen ended at 6-1, 4-6, 1-4.
Mississippi State 4, Samford 0
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Samford University men’s tennis team faced its second nationally-ranked opponent in as many matches this season Saturday and came up short in a hard-fought 4-0 decision against the 28th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in an early-season, non-conference showdown held at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
“Overall, I am pleased with the way we competed,” said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. “We need to get off to better starts in the doubles. If not, the doubles point goes too quick to play catchup. In five of the six singles matches, we found ourselves at some point during the match, whether it was a first set or a second set, in a position to win.”
Samford opened its 2015 campaign with a 6-1 road loss at No. 36-ranked Alabama.
In Saturday’s contest at No. 28 Mississippi State, Samford fell behind early by a count of 1-0 after losing the doubles point. The homestanding Bulldogs jumped out quickly on the visitors and earned identical 6-1 wins on courts No. 1 and No. 3 to take the initial score of the match.
Samford competed valiantly in singles play and won the first set from its counterparts on courts No. 3 and No. 6.
In the No. 3 singles matchup, the Bulldogs’ Trey Carter won the first set against Mississippi State’s No. 63-ranked Tassilo Schmid in dominant fashion, 6-2. The pair was tied in the second set at 4-4 when the match was called.
Samford true freshman Jake Faundez also handled his Mississippi State opponent in the opening set on court No. 6, 6-2. Against Robin Haden, Faundez was leading the second set 5-4 when Saturday’s contest concluded. Prior to the match, both coaches agreed to suspend the remaining matches once an official decision was reached.
“These top teams, like Mississippi State, really buckle down when its 4-4 or 5-5 in sets and play very tough tennis – they make you take advantage of any opportunity that is given,” Esmail said. “Trey and Jake played some very convincing tennis today. Everyone has been working very hard so far, and those two today were excellent examples of implementing what they have been working on and being confident with their games.”
Mississippi State earned the 4-0 victory with straight-set singles wins on courts No. 4, No. 5 and No. 1.
With Saturday’s loss, Samford dropped to 3-12 all-time against the Bulldogs. SU has been defeated in eight straight matches with Mississippi State and the Bulldogs have not been victorious in the rivalry since 1975.
“I’m extremely looking forward to getting back to work this week and having another opportunity to compete again and put our work to the test on Wednesday,” said Esmail.
The Samford University men’s tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 11 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to the Samford Tennis Center for a home-opening, in-state duel.
Clemson 4, Mercer 0
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Mercer men's tennis team fell 4-0 to No. 34 Clemson on Saturday afternoon at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center.
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for the Bears. In doubles, Austin Emmet and Ruben Vanoppen were in a tight 4-3 match before play was stopped.
In singles, Arnav Mohanty won his first set 6-4 and was tied 4-4 in the second set when the match was called. Additionally, Arsav Mohanty was up 5-4 in the second set, with the potential of forcing a third.