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South Atlantic Conference

#43 Wingate Drops Tough 5-4 Match Against #41 Jaguars in NCAA Regionals

#43 Wingate Drops Tough 5-4 Match Against #41 Jaguars in NCAA Regionals
May 4, 2015

 

Savannah, Ga.----The eighth-seeded and 41st-ranked GRU Augusta Jaguars won a tightly-contested 5-4 match over ninth-seeded and 43rd-ranked Wingate University in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Southeast Regional men's tennis tournament Saturday afternoon. In a match that came down to a third-set tiebreaker, GRU Augusta prevailed to improve to 13-8 overall, advancing to Sunday's regional quarterfinal match. The Bulldogs end their season at 15-6 overall.
 

GRU Augusta won two of the three doubles matches Saturday afternoon. Wingate's number one doubles team of senior Neal Towlson (Warwick, Bermuda) and junior Sebastian Hall (Lorrach, Germany) picked up a 9-7 victory for the Bulldogs. The Jaguars picked up 8-6 wins at two and three doubles, taking a 2-1 advantage into singles play.

 

Towlson's second victory of the day came at number one singles. The senior won 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 over GRU Augusta's Romain Ferreira, who is ranked 45th in the nation. Hall also notched a two-win day for the Bulldogs, prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at number two singles. Sophomore Filippo Pezzoli (Milan, Italy) moved to 19-1 in singles play on the year with a 6-1, 6-3 win at number five singles.

 

The Jaguars picked up a point with a win at number six singles. Sophomore Connor Kudrick (Spring, Texas) won his first set 6-4 at number four singles, then dropped the second set 4-6. The third set was tied at 2-2 when Kudrick retired due to injury. The match was tied 4-4 with number three singles still in progress. Freshman Amir Zari (Jerusalem, Israel) won a 9-7 tiebreaker to take set one 7-6. GRU Augusta's Moritz Gehlhaus took the second set 6-4 to force a third set. The final frame went to a tiebreaker, which Gehlhaus won 8-6 to claim a 7-6 third-set victory and clinching the match for the Jaguars.

 

It was another successful season for Wingate, who won both the SAC regular season and tournament titles for the second straight year. The Bulldogs went 10-1 in the SAC, winning their fifth regular season conference title in seven years. Wingate also claimed its third SAC Tournament championship in four years. The Bulldogs were making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.