Posted: Mar 06, 2008
FLORENCE, S.C. --- The No. 25 Francis Marion men's tennis team handed No. 35 Tusculum its first loss of the season as the Patriots prevailed 7-2. FMU improves to 9-1, while the Pioneers drop to 5-1 on the season.
FMU won the top two doubles matches as the No. 1 pairing of Franklyn Emmanuel and Oshada Wijemanne (ranked No. 11 in NCAA II), defeated TC's Sergio Espinosa and Carlos Garcia 8-1. Tusculum's Nicolas Bigler and Hunter Beal won at the No. 3 flight, 8-4 over Karl Rogers and James Machlachlan.
Emmanuel, who is also ranked the No. 20 singles player in the country, posted a 6-3, 6-2 win against Bigler at No. 1 singles. Dilshod Sharifi knocked off Garcia 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 singles, halting Garcia's school-record 22-game winning streak.
TC's Henrique Rodrigues recorded a singles victory at the No. 4 flight over Bastian Czwalinna.
The Pioneers return to action Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. when TC takes on West Virginia Wesleyan in Hilton Head Island, S.C.