UNCG 5, Wofford 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Wofford College men’s tennis team took a hard-fought, 5-2 loss to the Spartans of UNCG on Saturday afternoon.
UNCG (10-8, 3-3 SoCon) opened up claiming the doubles point. UNCG took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots before seniors Rob Galloway and Walker Heffron defeated Connor Thompson and Randy Phillips at the No. 1 spot, 8-5, to round out doubles play.
In singles, Wofford (9-9, 3-3 SoCon) pulled out two wins. At No. 2, sophomore Haris Poric topped Thompson in straight sets, with an impressive 6-4, 7-6 (8) performance. At the No. 5 hole, junior David Sklar went three sets to take down Gaston Murray, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
The remaining Terriers fell, with Galloway extending his match three sets at No. 1, while the remaining singles players were dispatched in straight sets.
Furman 5, Samford 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. - In its fourth match away from home in eight days, the Samford University men’s tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision against the Furman Paladins on Saturday in a Southern Conference contest held at the Minor Herndon Mickel Tennis Center.
Samford (7-9, 1-3 SoCon) swept Saturday’s doubles point and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the overall team contest.
On court No. 2, the Bulldogs’ pairing of Austin Akers and Henry Moore cruised to an 8-2 victory, while Samford’s combination of Fares Kilani and Justin Ghavami notched an 8-5 triumph in the No. 3 doubles competition.
In the closest matchup of Saturday’s doubles stanza, the Bulldogs’ Trey Carter and Jake Faundez outlasted the Paladins’ pairing of Matt Browne and Ben Horst, 8-6, to earn the sweep and garner the early 1-0 lead.
Furman (5-14, 3-0 SoCon), which boasts an undefeated record in conference play this season, turned up its game a notch in singles play Saturday and won five of the six meetings.
Samford’s Akers registered a straight-set triumph in the No. 2 singles matchup, 7-6(6), 7-5, but the Paladins were victorious in the remaining five contests of the afternoon.
With his win, Akers improved to 8-7 in singles play this season.
The Bulldogs’ overall team loss proved to be its third-consecutive 5-2 setback.
Since knocking off No. 47-ranked UNC-Wilmington on March 28, Samford has suffered three straight identical 5-2 road defeats to ETSU, Wofford and Furman. The Bulldogs are 1-6 when playing on the road this season.
ETSU 5, Georgia State 2
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Amidst windy playing conditions, the 63rd-ranked ETSU men's tennis team notched its sixth consecutive victory Saturday, knocking off non-conference opponent Georgia State, 5-2, on the Buddy Hartsell Courts at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex in Johnson City.
With the victory, ETSU improved its record since Feb. 14 to 9-1 while also extending the program's home unbeaten streak to 16 matches. The Buccaneers' (10-7) last home loss came March 23, 2013 to Dartmouth, 4-3.
"Conditions were tough today—very windy," ETSU head coach Yaser Zaatini said. "I think our guys settled down well. We competed throughout the whole match. Georgia State is a fairly young team this year and we managed to take the 'W', avenging the loss from last year."
Last season, ETSU was edged at Georgia State, 4-3; however, Saturday belonged to the Bucs.
The Buccaneers wasted no time establishing themselves versus the Panthers (7-12), as ETSU captured the doubles point and then earned three, straight-set singles victories to take a definitive, 4-0 lead. The remaining matches were then played out, with Georgia State picking up wins at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots.
Earning singles victories for the Bucs were Rogerio Ribeiro, Sebastian Yllera,Ismael Merino, and David Biosca, respectively.
With a win at No. 1 Singles, Biosca extended his team-best singles win streak to six matches. Meanwhile, co-captains Ribeiro and Merino improved their own singles win streaks to five matches.
Ribeiro and Biosca teamed up at No. 1 Doubles to dispatch Georgia State's Zack Kennedy and Sofiane Chevallier, 8-0. At the No. 3 doubles position, Yllera and Conner Huertas defeated Jannis Koeke and Felipe Jaworski, 8-5, to clinch their fifth-consecutive doubles win.
"Today was a good win and solid team performance," ETSU assistant coach Ricky Rojas said. "Now, we have to look forward to next weekend."