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ETSU, Samford advance to Men’s Tennis Championship title match
Bucs, Bulldogs set to battle for SoCon title for second time in three years at 2 p.m. Saturday
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – No. 1 seed ETSU and No. 2 seed Samford have advanced to Saturday’s title match of the 2024 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championship after picking up semifinal wins Friday. Saturday’s title tilt will start at 2 p.m. The tournament is being contested at the Champions Club.
The Bucs are the five-time defending champions and have reached the championship match in all nine tournaments since returning to the league in 2015, while Samford is making its fifth appearance in the finals – and its first since 2022 – when ETSU edged the Bulldogs, 4-3.
No. 1 ETSU 4, No. 5 Chattanooga 0
Regular-season champion and five-time defending tournament champion ETSU blanked the Mocs in Friday’s semifinals.
Chattanooga grabbed an early lead when the first-team all-conference tandem of Jakub Jupa and Peyton Gatti blanked ETSU’s Milledge Cossu and Francisco Lamas, 6-0, at the No. 1 doubles’ spot, before ETSU’s Pedro Cressoni and Alberto Garcia evened the match by knocking off Ryan Mudre and Jaxon Lamb, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles. The Bucs clinched the doubles point minutes later when Dimitri Badra and Adam Nagoudi outlasted Chattanooga’s No. 2 duo of Cortland Grove and Jordan McClure, 6-4.
Badra, the four-time SoCon Player of the Year, extended ETSU’s lead by defeating Jupa, the league’s freshman of the year, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1 singles, with Lamas capturing a straight-set, 6-3, 6-3, win over Chattanooga’s Kristof Kincses at the No. 5 slot. ETSU’s Peter Kalocsai clinched the semifinal victory for the Bucs by outlasting UTC’s Grove ,6-3, 7-5 at No. 3.
Singles competition
Doubles competition
1. Jakub Jupa/Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Milledge Cossu/Francisco Lamas (ETSU) 6-0
2. Dimitri Badra/Adam Nagoudi (ETSU) def. Cortland Grove/Jordan McClure (UTC), 6-4
3. Pedro Cressoni/Alberto Garcia (ETSU) def. Ryan Mudre/Jaxon Lamb (UTC) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 5, 3, 6)
*****
No. 2 Samford 4, No. 3 Furman 2
Second-seeded Samford made three consecutive appearances in the finals from 2011-13 and then squared off against ETSU in the 2022 championship title tilt, with Saturday afternoon’s matchup coming as a rematch of the 2022 championship.
Furman’s duo of Cole Burnam and Connor Laymon won, 6-3, at No. 3 doubles over Samford’s Darcy Nicholls and Will Gray, with Emil Westling and Ben Cahill slipping past the Bulldogs’ Santiago Arredondo and J.B. Pickard, 6-4, at No. 2 to clinch the point for the Paladins.
But while the Paladins’ Elijah Poritzky was able to carry over the momentum to the singles side with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Samford’s Maxwell Giddens at No. 1, the victory marked the lone singles win for Furman. Sandeep Mohandoss began the comeback for Samford with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-1, win past Thomas Kennedy at the No. 2 spot, with Pickard capturing a, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win over Burnam at No. 5. Nicholls followed at No. 3 with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory and Arredondo clinched the dramatic win by outlasting Laymon, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 6.
Singles competition
1. Elijah Poritzky (FUR) def. Maxwell Giddens (SAM) 6-1, 6-4
2. Sandeep Mohandoss (SAM) def. Thomas Kennedy (FUR) 6-4, 6-1
3. Darcy Nicholls (SAM) def. Emil Westling (FUR) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
4. John Rado (FUR) vs. Maksim Bogdanovich (SAM) unfinished
5. J.B. Pickard (SAM) def. Cole Burnam (FUR) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Santiago Arredondo (SAM) def. Connor Laymon (FUR) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)
Doubles competition
1. Elijah Poritzky/Thomas Kennedy (FUR) vs. Maxwell Giddens/Sandeep Mohandoss (SAM) unfinished
2. Emil Westling/Ben Cahill (FUR) def. Santiago Arredondo/J.B. Pickard (SAM) 6-4
3. Cole Burnam/Connor Laymon (FUR) def. Darcy Nicholls/Will Gray (SAM) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3); Singles (1, 2, 5, 3, 6)
2024 SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 18
Match 1: No. 1 ETSU 4, No. 8 UNCG 0
Match 2: No. 5 Chattanooga 4, No. 4 Mercer 0
Match 3: No. 3 Furman 4, No. 6 Wofford 2
Match 4: No. 2 Samford 4, No. 7 The Citadel 1
Friday, April 19
Match 5: No. 1 ETSU 4, No. 5 Chattanooga 0
Match 6: No. 2 Samford 4, No. 3 Furman 2
Saturday, April 20
Match 7: No. 1 ETSU vs. No. 2 Samford, 2 p.m.
The Bucs are the five-time defending champions and have reached the championship match in all nine tournaments since returning to the league in 2015, while Samford is making its fifth appearance in the finals – and its first since 2022 – when ETSU edged the Bulldogs, 4-3.
No. 1 ETSU 4, No. 5 Chattanooga 0
Regular-season champion and five-time defending tournament champion ETSU blanked the Mocs in Friday’s semifinals.
Chattanooga grabbed an early lead when the first-team all-conference tandem of Jakub Jupa and Peyton Gatti blanked ETSU’s Milledge Cossu and Francisco Lamas, 6-0, at the No. 1 doubles’ spot, before ETSU’s Pedro Cressoni and Alberto Garcia evened the match by knocking off Ryan Mudre and Jaxon Lamb, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles. The Bucs clinched the doubles point minutes later when Dimitri Badra and Adam Nagoudi outlasted Chattanooga’s No. 2 duo of Cortland Grove and Jordan McClure, 6-4.
Badra, the four-time SoCon Player of the Year, extended ETSU’s lead by defeating Jupa, the league’s freshman of the year, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1 singles, with Lamas capturing a straight-set, 6-3, 6-3, win over Chattanooga’s Kristof Kincses at the No. 5 slot. ETSU’s Peter Kalocsai clinched the semifinal victory for the Bucs by outlasting UTC’s Grove ,6-3, 7-5 at No. 3.
Singles competition
| 1. Dimitri Badra (ETSU) def. Jakub Jupa (UTC) 6-1, 6-3 |
| 2. Milledge Cossu (ETSU) vs. Gabriel Castillo (UTC) 6-7 (6-8), unfinished |
| 3. Peter Kalocsai (ETSU) def. Cortland Grove (UTC) 6-3, 7-5 |
| 4. Pedro Cressoni (ETSU) vs. Ryan Mudre (UTC) 4-6, 4-3, unfinished |
| 5. Francisco Lamas (ETSU) def. Kristof Kincses (UTC) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 6. Lucas Britez (ETSU) vs. Peyton Gatti (UTC) 6-1, 6-6, unfinished |
Doubles competition
1. Jakub Jupa/Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Milledge Cossu/Francisco Lamas (ETSU) 6-0
2. Dimitri Badra/Adam Nagoudi (ETSU) def. Cortland Grove/Jordan McClure (UTC), 6-4
3. Pedro Cressoni/Alberto Garcia (ETSU) def. Ryan Mudre/Jaxon Lamb (UTC) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 5, 3, 6)
*****
No. 2 Samford 4, No. 3 Furman 2
Second-seeded Samford made three consecutive appearances in the finals from 2011-13 and then squared off against ETSU in the 2022 championship title tilt, with Saturday afternoon’s matchup coming as a rematch of the 2022 championship.
Furman’s duo of Cole Burnam and Connor Laymon won, 6-3, at No. 3 doubles over Samford’s Darcy Nicholls and Will Gray, with Emil Westling and Ben Cahill slipping past the Bulldogs’ Santiago Arredondo and J.B. Pickard, 6-4, at No. 2 to clinch the point for the Paladins.
But while the Paladins’ Elijah Poritzky was able to carry over the momentum to the singles side with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Samford’s Maxwell Giddens at No. 1, the victory marked the lone singles win for Furman. Sandeep Mohandoss began the comeback for Samford with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-1, win past Thomas Kennedy at the No. 2 spot, with Pickard capturing a, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win over Burnam at No. 5. Nicholls followed at No. 3 with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory and Arredondo clinched the dramatic win by outlasting Laymon, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 6.
Singles competition
1. Elijah Poritzky (FUR) def. Maxwell Giddens (SAM) 6-1, 6-4
2. Sandeep Mohandoss (SAM) def. Thomas Kennedy (FUR) 6-4, 6-1
3. Darcy Nicholls (SAM) def. Emil Westling (FUR) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
4. John Rado (FUR) vs. Maksim Bogdanovich (SAM) unfinished
5. J.B. Pickard (SAM) def. Cole Burnam (FUR) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Santiago Arredondo (SAM) def. Connor Laymon (FUR) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)
Doubles competition
1. Elijah Poritzky/Thomas Kennedy (FUR) vs. Maxwell Giddens/Sandeep Mohandoss (SAM) unfinished
2. Emil Westling/Ben Cahill (FUR) def. Santiago Arredondo/J.B. Pickard (SAM) 6-4
3. Cole Burnam/Connor Laymon (FUR) def. Darcy Nicholls/Will Gray (SAM) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3); Singles (1, 2, 5, 3, 6)
2024 SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 18
Match 1: No. 1 ETSU 4, No. 8 UNCG 0
Match 2: No. 5 Chattanooga 4, No. 4 Mercer 0
Match 3: No. 3 Furman 4, No. 6 Wofford 2
Match 4: No. 2 Samford 4, No. 7 The Citadel 1
Friday, April 19
Match 5: No. 1 ETSU 4, No. 5 Chattanooga 0
Match 6: No. 2 Samford 4, No. 3 Furman 2
Saturday, April 20
Match 7: No. 1 ETSU vs. No. 2 Samford, 2 p.m.