Mercer 4, Wofford 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s tennis team found themselves on the wrong end of a tight contest, falling 4-3 to Southern Conference newcomer Mercer University at the Reeves Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Rob Galloway led the way for the Terriers, earning a 2-0 record in the day’s matches. The Greenville, South Carolina native kicked off the day with a win at doubles, pairing at No. 1 with classmate Walker Heffron for an 8-5 win over brother-duo Arnav and Arsav Mohatny. Galloway continued to excel in singles play, blanking Oliver Snaider in the second set, 6-2, 6-0, for a team-high 13th win this season.
Mercer (9-11, 2-1 SoCon) jumped out to an early lead, taking the doubles point. After Galloway and Heffron’s win at No. 1, the Bears took the remaining matches by a collective three games. Sophomore Haris Poric and junior Trevor Gotkowski faced an 8-7 setback at No. 2 before an 8-6 loss at No. 3 from junior classmates David Sklar and Parks Thompson sealed the Mercer point.
In singles, Mercer doubled their lead early, as Trevor Gotkowski fell at No. 6, 6-1, 6-1. Galloway earned the next win before Sklar fell at No. 5, 6-2, 6-0.
Freshman Parks Schoen brought it within one team point for Wofford (8-8, 2-2 SoCon), earning a big win at No. 4, defeating Anderson Scarpa in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The final two singles matches went three sets, as Heffron was defeated 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 3 before Poric went on to top Arnav Mohatny in tiebreaker action at No. 2, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6.
Furman 7, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a 7-0 match to Southern Conference foe Furman today. The Mocs played hard in both doubles and singles today but couldn’t pull past their conference rival.
Head coach Carlos Garcia commented, “It was a tough match but it was a fun match and it’s a match that our team looks forward to just from the history of our rivalry.”
Furman held off the Mocs in the doubles play as Chattanooga fought hard to try and win the point. Luke Hoover and Juan Sheppard started if off for Furman with a (8-2) win over junior Luke Saunders and sophomore Derrick Brown at No. 3.
Sophomores Lucas Plesky and Nic Wilson almost came back towards the end of the match but lost (8-5) to Adam Steryous and Cameron Green at No. 2, which secured the doubles victory for Furman. The Mocs continued to fight as Junior John Peacey and Senior Pavels Grigorjevs attempted to come back at No. 1 for Chattanooga, but Matt Browne and Ben Horst held them off to claim a (8-6) win to sweep the doubles for Furman.
As singles play began, Adam Steryous quickly defeated senior Pavels Grigorjevs with a (6-1, 6-2) victory at No. 1. Sophomore Lucas Plesky was also defeated as Matt Browne posted a (6-4, 7-6(4)) win at No. 2 for the Paladins to put them up 3-0 in the match.
Jacob Behal secured the overall victory for Furman as he posted a (6-2, 6-2) win over Junior Gino Delavalle at No. 5. The Mocs continued to battle at No. 6 as John Peacey forced a third set but eventually lost (6-7(2), 6-1, 1-0(5)) to Stefan Rhodes.
Chattanooga also forced three sets at No. 4 and 3 respectfully, but ultimately lost both singles matches as Furman completed the 7-0 sweep in the first conference action of the year for both teams.
“My team played hard today and I know the score doesn’t reflect it,” stated head coach Carlos Garcia. “I know it’s a sweep and the scoreboard looks like Furman dominated us but these boys played hard today for me, for the program and most importantly, they played hard for their teammates. I am real excited about how we’re playing right now.”
Chattanooga drops to 4-11, 0-1 overall this season and Furman improves to 4-14, 1-0 on the year.
Samford 4, UNCW 3
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Samford University men’s tennis team took its winning momentum to the next level Saturday as the Bulldogs rallied past the nation’s 47th-ranked UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, 4-3, in a thrilling non-conference contest held at the Buddy Hartsell Courts located on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
“Today was a great college match,” said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. “Both teams competed extremely well and I’m pleased that we were able to gut it out. UNCW is a very good team and this was a great win for us. We found a way to find an extra gear and we definitely had to earn every single win that we had today.”
With its victory, Samford (7-6) extended its winning streak to three-consecutive matches and tallied its first triumph over a ranked opponent since Feb. 6, 2013, when the Bulldogs knocked off No. 51-ranked Alabama.
Samford has been playing some of its best tennis as of late and has been victorious in seven of its last nine outings. The Bulldogs have faced four nationally-ranked opponents this season and own a 1-3 record against some of the country’s elite teams.
After falling short at home to Stetson on March 4, 4-3, Samford has compiled consecutive victories against Jackson State, 7-0, UNCG, 5-2 and UNC-Wilmington (9-6), 4-3.
The Bulldogs dropped Saturday’s doubles point against the Seahawks, but rallied back to take four of the six singles contests.
“The doubles could have gone either way today,” Esmail said. “It’s always tough to lose that opening point, but we did a great job to bounce back and get a good start in singles. We found a way today and that was huge.”
Due to cold weather, Saturday’s match was held indoors at the four-court facility.
In singles play, Samford was able to use early wins from Austin Akers (court No. 2), Trey Carter (court No. 3) and Justin Ghavami (court No. 4) in the first wave of matches to garner a 3-2 lead in the contest.
The Bulldogs’ Akers breezed to a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over UNC-Wilmington’s Christiaan Van der Burgh, while Carter defeated Sam Williams in a three-set marathon, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, and Ghavami bested the Seahawks’ Zach Hublitz, 6-3, 6-4.
Once Samford’s built its 3-2 advantage, UNC-Wilmington answered with a victory on court No. 6 to even the score at 3-3.
With the match deadlocked, all eyes shifted to court No. 5 where the Bulldogs’ Eduardo Lourido Sanchez was battling with the Seahawks’ Andres Torres. Samford’s Lourido Sanchez lost the first set, 6-4, but then rebounded for victories of 6-4 and 7-5, respectively, in the final two sets to claim the win and secure the Bulldogs’ thrilling 4-3 team triumph.
“Eduardo did a great job of staying composed today and playing convincing tennis to win,” said Esmail. “This was a great team effort and we are looking forward to tomorrow's match."