NEWBERRY, S.C. --- The No. 35 Tusculum men's
tennis team rallied from a 2-1 deficit, claiming five singles
points as the Pioneers won their 10th straight match to defeat host
Newberry 6-3 in South Atlantic Conference action at the Cannon
Tennis Courts. Tusculum (15-1, 5-0 SAC) remains undefeated in
conference play, while the Indians (5-5, 2-1 SAC) saw their
three-match winning streak halted.
Tusculum fought hard to secure the first doubles point of the day,
as Sergio Espinosa and Carlos
Garcia edged Daryl Van Vuuren and
Jeremy Smith, 8-6. But the Indians won the
remaining two doubles points as Maxim Sukharev and
Lucas Mattos scored an 8-3 victory over
Leo Guaycurus and Henrique
Rodrigues, while Felipe Sobrinho and
Mikael Jurkovic gave Newberry a 2-1 lead with a
9-7 win over Hunter Beal and Nicolas
Bigler. The loss by Beal and Bigler were their first
doubles set-back of the season, ending a string of 14 straight
victories.
Tusculum responded by taking the first three singles points.
Espinosa breezed past Sukharev, 6-2, 6-2, and Bigler followed with
a hard-earned 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) win over Van Vuuren. Garcia
stretched Tusculum's lead to 4-2 by advancing past Smith, 6-1, 4-0
(ret.).
Newberry's Mattos would close the gap by taking his No. 4 singles
match, 7-5, 6-2 over Rodrigues.
Guaycurus answered with by defeating Sobrinho at the fifth flight,
6-4, 6-3, while Beal took a three-set thriller from Jurkovic, 6-3,
6-7 (7-5), 10-3.
With the win, Tusculum takes over sole possession of first place
in the league. TC returns to action on Friday when they host
Catawba for an important league tilt at the Nichols Tennis Complex
beginning at 1:30 p.m.
- TC -
No. 35 Tusculum 6, Newberry
3
Singles
1 - Sergio Espinosa (TC) def. Maxim Sukharev 6-2, 6-2
2 - Nicolas Bigler (TC) def. Daryl Van Vuuren 6-2, 2-6, 7-6
(7-3)
3 - Carlos Garcia (TC) def. Jeremy Smith 6-1, 4-0, retired
4 - Lucas Mattos (NEWM) def. Henrique Rodrigues 7-5, 6-2
5 - Leo Guaycurus (TC) def. Felipe Sobrinho 6-3, 6-4
6 - Hunter Beal (TC) def. Mikael Jurkovic 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 10-3
Doubles
1 - Espinosa/Garcia (TC) def. Smith/Van Vuuren 8-6
2 - Mattos/Sukharev (NEWM) def. Rodrigues/Guaycurus 8-3
3 - Jurkovic/Sobrinho (NEWM) def. Bigler/Beal 9-7
