Tusculum, Newberry Advance To Finals Of Food Lion SAC Men’s Tennis Tournament
ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Top-seed Tusculum and No. 3 Newberry were victorious in their respective semifinal matches to advance to the championship of the 2008 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament, held this weekend at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. Tusculum, ranked No. 35 in NCAA Division II, posted a 5-0 win over No. 5 Carson-Newman. Newberry withstood a valiant effort to edge No. 7 Lincoln Memorial, 5-3.
The championship match between the Pioneers and Indians will begin at noon on Saturday.
No. 1 Tusculum 5, No. 5 Carson-Newman 0
SAC Player of the Year Carlos Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela) accounted for a pair of points as top-seed Tusculum defeated No. 5 Carson-Newman 5-0. The Pioneers (19-1) capture their 13th consecutive win, while the Eagles end their season at 7-6.
Tusculum swept doubles action with three wins, including an 8-6 pro set victory by Garcia and Sergio Espinosa (Caracas, Venezuela) at the top flight, defeating Jack Harvie (Snellville, Ga.) and two-time SAC Scholar Athlete Preston Sneed (Kingsport, Tenn.).
TC also secured doubles points by Leo Guaycurus (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Henrique Rodrigues at No. 2 doubles, while Hunter Beal and Nicolas Bigler (Chernex, Switzerland) were victorious at the third flight.
Garcia also accounted for a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sneed at No. 3 singles, while Rodrigues (Salvador-Bahia, Brazil) won his match against Harvie in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) at No. 4 singles.
No. 3 Newberry 5, No. 7 Lincoln Memorial 3
No. 3 Newberry captured two of the three doubles points and Felipe Sobrinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) won in straight sets to clinch the winning point in the Indians' 5-3 win over No. 7 Lincoln Memorial.
Sobrinho accounted for a pair of points on the day, beginning at No. 3 doubles as he and teammate Mikael Jurkovic (Atlanta, Ga.) won 8-4 over LMU's Gabor Heredi-Szabo (Kecskemet, Hungary) and Zack Jones (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). LMU tallied its first point of the match at No. 1 doubles when Hannes Ganss (Erlangen, Germany) and Bastian Guenther (Erlangen, Germany) were victorious, 8-3 against Jeremy Smith (Durban, South Africa) and Daryl Van Vuuren (Durban, South Africa).
Newberry also claimed honors at No. 2 doubles thanks to an 8-2 win by Maxim Sukharev (Vilnius, Lituania) and Lucas Mattos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
The Indians moved out to a 3-1 advantage as Smith won his No. 3 singles match against Andras Pauko (Budapest, Hungary), 6-1, 6-3.
But the Railsplitters (4-11) battled back with singles wins at the top two flights. At No. 1 singles, Ganss finished off his second point of the afternoon with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph against Sukharev. Guenther also posted his second scoring tally on the day, defeating Van Vuuren, 7-5, 6-2 to knot the match at 3-3.
But two straight points by Mattos at No. 4 singles and Sobrinho's deciding point at the fifth flight sealed the victory for the Indians.
In this year's first meeting, Tusculum defeated Newberry by a 6-3 score, earlier this month.
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament
(Semifinal)
Rock Hill Tennis Center ▪ Rock Hill, South Carolina
No. 1 Tusculum 3, No. 5 Carson-Newman 0 (Final)
Singles
1 - Nicolas Bigler (TC) vs. Giuseppe Schwartz (CN), DNF
2 - Sergio Espinosa (TC) vs. Adriano Kira (CN), DNF
3 - Carlos Garcia (TC) def. Preston Sneed (CN), 6-1, 6-0
4 - Henrique Rodrigues (TC) def. Jack Harvie (CN), 6-1, 6-0
5 - Leo Guaycurus (TC) vs. Chris Acker (CN), DNF
6 - Hunter Beal (TC) vs. Trent Slagle (CN), DNF
Doubles
1 - Carlos Garcia/Sergio Espinosa (TC) def. Jack Harvie/Preston
Sneed (CN), 8-6
2 - Henrique Rodrigues/Leo Guaycurus (TC) def. Adriano
Kira/Giuseppe Schwartz (CN), 8-4
3 - Nicolas Bigler/Hunter Beals (TC) def. Trent Slagle/Chris Acker
(CN), 8-6
Records: Tusculum (19-1); Carson-Newman (7-6)
Time: 2:03
No. 3 Newberry 5, No. 7 Lincoln Memorial 3 (Final)
Singles
1 - Hannes Ganss (LMU) def. Maxim Sukharev (NEW), 6-0, 6-3
2 - Bastian Guenther (LMU) def. Daryl Van Vuuren (NEW), 7-5,
6-2
3 - Jeremy Smith (NEW) def. Andras Pauko (LMU), 6-1, 6-3
4 - Lucas Mattos (NEW) def. Gabor Heredi-Szabo (LMU), 6-4, 6-1
5 - Felipe Sobrinho (NEW) def.Cody Swindall (LMU), 6-0, 6-1
6 - Mikael Jurkovic (NEW) vs. Zack Jones (LMU), DNF
Doubles
1 - Hannes Ganss/Bastian Guenther (LMU) def. Jeremy Smith/Daryl Van
Vuuren (NEW), 8-3
2 - Lucas Mattos/Maxim Sukharev (NEW) def. Andrew Bates/Adras Pauko
(LMU), 8-2
3 - Felipe Sobrinho/Mikael Jurkovic (NEW) def. Gabor
Heredi-Szabo/Zack Jones (LMU), 8-4
Records: Newberry (10-6); Lincoln Memorial (4-11)
Time: 3:05