Wingate, Newberry, Mars Hill, Tusculum Advance In Food Lion SAC Men’s Tennis Tournament

Wingate, N.C. -- The Wingate University men's tennis team won its 10th match in a row Monday afternoon, taking a 5-0 decision over Catawba College in the first round of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament.

The 2009 SAC regular season champions, Wingate did not drop a set Monday on its home turf. The number one seed Bulldogs are 12-4 overall on the season. Wingate faces Tusculum Friday at the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill, S.C. The SAC semi-final contest will begin at 9 a.m. Friday. Catawba concludes the 2008-09 campaign 10-11 overall.

Bulldog sophomore Braedan Patchell (Oakville, Ont., Canada) clinched the match for the hosts, taking a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Catawba freshman Thomas Mitchell (Nanaimo, B.C., Canada) at the number three singles flight. Patchell's victory was Earlier in the afternoon, Patchell teamed with sophomore Louis Villarroel (Maraval, Trinidad) to defeat Catawba senior Shahin Soltan (Vetlanda, Sweden) and freshman Uri Yarkoni (Kelowna, B.C., Canada) 8-6 at the number one doubles position.

Wingate freshman Flavio Rathsam (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also won two matches Monday. In singles, Rathsam topped Yarkoni 6-0, 6-1 at the number six singles spot. In doubles, Rathsam and classmate Bruno Pudence (Sao Paulo, Brazil) defeated Catawba's Matt King (Concord, New South Wales, Australia) and Tom McCormick (Winchester, England) 8-6 at the number two doubles flight.

King and McCormick defeated Pudence and Rathsam 8-3 in the regular season meeting between the two teams on March 17 in Salisbury. Today's meeting was the third contest between the two schools this year. Wingate picked up an 8-1 road decision on March 17, while Catawba earned a hard-fought 5-3 victory in a non-conference match on Sept. 30 at Wingate.

FOOD LION SAC MEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT
MEN'S TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
WINGATE 5, CATAWBA 0
Singles
1. Shahin Soltan (CAT) led Mitchell Lvovsky (WIN) 5-4, DNF
2. Bruno Pudence (WIN) led Matt King (CAT) 6-1, 1-1, DNF
3. Braedan Patchell (WIN) def. Thomas Mitchell (CAT) 6-0, 6-2
4. Drew Owen (WIN) led Cyle Petersen (CAT) 6-1, 2-1, DNF
5. Matthew Litchenstein (WIN) led Tom McCormick (CAT), 6-3, 4-1, DNF
6. Flavio Rathsam (WIN) def. Uri Yarkoni (CAT) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles
1. Patchell/Louis Villarroel (WIN) def. Soltan/Yarkoni (CAT) 8-6
2. Pudence/Rathsam (WIN) def. King/McCormack (CAT) 8-6
3. Litchenstein/Jose Valarezo (WIN) def. Mitchell/Petersen (CAT) 8-4
RECORDS: Wingate 12-4 overall; Catawba 10-11 overall

No. 2 Newberry 5, No. 7 Lincoln Memorial University 3

NEWBERRY, S.C. -- The Newberry College men's tennis team earned a hard fought win in the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's tennis tournament over the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters, 5-3.

It was blustery day at the Cannon Tennis Courts with winds reported at 12 mph and gusts up to 24 mph. Newberry fell behind early when Mark Boswell (Piedmont, S.C.) and Pavle Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia) lost in the third doubles flight to Zack Jones and Bastion Guenther (8-1). Despite the loss, NC would claim a 2-1 lead after two grueling doubles matches.

Jeremy Smith (Durban, South Africa) and Felipe Sobrinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) took their top flight match over Tom Goossens and Hannes Gannss (9-7). The SAC's premiere doubles tandem moved to a perfect 9-0 against conference opponents this season.

In the final doubles match, Lucas Mattos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Maxim Sukharev (Vilnius, Lithuania) earned a hard fought win over Gabor Heredi-Szabo and Andras Pauko. Both teams fought hard and held serve for almost the entire match, but Newberry pulled ahead early in the tie-breaker to take the crucial point, 9-8 (7-4).

During the match, LMU's Pauko suffered an ankle injury but played through the pain. Despite fighting through the rest of his doubles match, he was sidelined during the singles portion of the day which moved up the Railsplitter's fifth, sixth, and seventh position players.

Despite falling in his doubles match, Popovic kept his poise and gave his team a 3-1 lead. Playing in the sixth flight, he nearly shutout Lincoln Memorial's Cody Swindall (6-0, 6-1). Popovic has played solid tennis as of late, going 4-2 since moving down to the final singles flight.

Jeremy Smith followed suit with a dominant victory over Szabo (6-0, 6-2) which put his team one win away from moving on in the tournament. Smith has made a great case for SAC Player of the Week honors, with an 8-0 record in singles and doubles play this week.

After the two singles wins, the road to victory got a little bumpy for the scarlet and gray as the Railsplitters claimed two wins of their own. Boswell fell to Jones in the fifth position (6-0, 6-1) and Sukharev lost the top flight singles match against Gannss (6-2, 6-3).

With two matches still being played, Mattos closed out the day with a second flight victory over Guenther (6-3, 6-0). Since being upset by Guenther during the regular season, Mattos has been on a run of three straight victories.

The win puts Newberry at 8-7 overall this season and advances them to the SAC Tournament Semifinals. The scarlet and gray will play No. 3 Mars Hill this Friday in Rock Hill, S.C. at 9 am. Lincoln Memorial, eliminated from the tournament, falls to 8-12 on the season.

Singles
1. Hannes Gannss (LMU) def. Maxim Sukharev (NEW) 6-2, 6-3
2. Lucas Mattos (NEW) def. Bastian Guenther (LMU) 6-3, 6-0
3. Jeremy Smith (NEW) def. Gabor Heredi-Szabo (LMU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Felipe Sobrinho (NEW) vs. Tom Goossens (LMU) unfinished
5. Zack Jones (LMU) def. Mark Boswell (NEW) 6-0, 6-1
6. Pavle Popovic (NEW) def. Cody Swindall (LMU) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles
1. Jeremy Smith/Felipe Sobrinho (NEW) def. Tom Goossens/Hannes Gannss (LMU) 9-7
2. Maxim Sukharev/Lucas Mattos (NEW) def. Gabor Heredi-Szabo/Andras Pauko (LMU) 9-8 (7-4)
3. Zack Jones/Bastian Guenther (LMU) def. Mark Boswell/Pavle Popovic (NEW) 8-1

No. 3 Mars Hill 5, No. 6 Carson-Newman 1

MARS HILL, N.C. -- The third-seed Mars Hill men's tennis team defeated sixth-seed Carson-Newman, 5-1, in the quarterfinals of the Food Lion SAC Men's Tennis Tournament on Monday. The Lions improve to 11-5. The Eagles conclude their season at 3-10.

The matches were moved indoors to the Crown Plaza Tennis Resort due to inclement weather, but nothing could cool off Mars Hill. The Lions were perfect in singles matches and picked up two doubles victories to seal the team win.

Mars Hill will move on to the semifinals of the conference tournament which will be held at the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill, S.C. on Friday. The semifinals will begin at 9 a.m.

Singles

1. Alessandro du Besse (MHC def. G. Schwarz (C-N), 6-2,6-3
2. Koeche Smith (MHC) def. J. Harvie (C-N), 6-1,6-0
3. Taylan Batuk (MHC) vs. T. Slagle (C-N), unfinished
4. Andre Schafer (MHC) def. A. Kira (C-N), 6-3,6-1
5. Tyrone La Reservee (MHC) vs. R. Schwarz (C-N), unfinished
6. Carlos Oyaga (MH) vs. C. Acker (C-N), unfinished

Doubles
1. Schwarz/Schwarz (C-N) def. Stankovic/Schafer (MHC), 8-4
2. Smith/La Reservee (MHC) def. Harvie/Borthick (C-N), 8-3
3. du Besse/Batuk (MHC) def. Kira/Slagle (C-N), 8-4

No. 5 Tusculum 5, No. 4 Brevard 4

BREVARD, N.C. -- The No. 5 seeded Tusculum College men's tennis team won five of the six singles flights on Monday to stage an impressive come-from-behind 5-4 victory against fourth-seeded Brevard College in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, advancing to the semifinal round to take on top-seeded Wingate University.

Brevard took an early 3-0 advantage with a sweep of the afternoon's doubles action, highlighted by Cole Altizer and Konstantin Savelyev's 8-3 win over Drew Kiser and Thomas Rees in the first flight. Jarred Fisher and Heikki Riikonen stretched the lead to 2-0 with an 8-4 win over Leo Guaycurus and Henrique Rodrigues, before Andrew Thompson and Nate Lyles completed the doubles sweep with an 8-6 victory over Hunter Beal and Steven Lin.

Rodrigues started the rally with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Savelyev in the first singles flight, and Rees pulled the Pioneers within one point at 3-2 with his second flight win over Riikonen 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-1. Altizer brought the Tornados within one point on the match win with his third flight 6-0, 6-1 win over Beal, but the Pioneers won the final three flights of the day to claim the victory.

Guaycurus defeated Fisher, 7-5, 6-2, in the fourth flight, and Lin came back to beat Thompson, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 to pull the Pioneers even at 4-4. Kiser then battled through several match points in both the second and third sets of the sixth singles flight before claiming the 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) win over Shane Apps and push the Pioneers through to the semifinal round.

Defending champion Tusculum will now square off against top-seeded Wingate on Friday at 9 a.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. at the Rock Hill Tennis Center.

Tusculum 5, Brevard 4

Singles
1. Henrique Rodrigues (TC) def. Konstantin Savelyev 6-3, 6-1
2. Thomas Rees (TC) def. Heikki Riikonen 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
3. Cole Altizer (BC) def. Hunter Beal 6-0, 6-1
4. Leo Guaycurus (TC) def. Jarred Fisher 7-5, 6-2
5. Steven Lin (TC) def. Andrew Thompson 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
6. Drew Kiser (TC) def. Shane Apps 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles
1. Savelyev/Altizer (BC) def. Kiser/Rees 8-3
2. Fisher/Riikonen (BC) def. Guaycurus/Rodrigues 8-4
3. Thompson/Nate Lyles (BC) def. Beal/Lin 8-6