DAHLONEGA, Ga. --- Wingate University defeated Tusculum University 4-1 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Region tournament at the University of North Georgia on Friday.
The Bulldogs (13-2), seeded fourth in the region and ranked 19th in Division II, advance to take on top-seeded and number-one ranked Columbus State University in the semifinals on Saturday. The Pioneers (17-4), seeded fifth in the region and ranked 26th in Division II, had won eight straight matches since a 4-3 loss to the Bulldogs on March 26.
Wingate captured the doubles point as Josep Canyadell and Michael Jones defeated Kenta Kondou and Jacco Mensinga 6-2 at flight three, followed by a 7-6 (7-4) win at flight two by Enrico Giacomini and Edis Nokic over Leon Huck and Dmitry Bezborodov.
In singles play, Giacomini beat Bezborodov 6-2, 6-1 at flight one to give Wingate a 2-0 lead, but Huck responded with his 15th straight singles victory, a 6-2, 6-3 win over Canyadell at flight four to cut the Bulldogs' advantage to 2-1. George Barfoot brought Wingate to the edge of victory as he defeated Frank Bonacia 6-4, 6-1 at flight three.
The Pioneers had a glimmer of hope as Kondou went to a third set with Nokic at flight six, and Manuel Guedes de Almeida took the Bulldogs' Roy Stepanov to a third set at flight five. At flight two, Tusculum's Nemanja Subanovic went to a second-set tiebreaker with Tolunay Sumer, but Sumer won the breaker and the match as he beat Subanovic 6-4, 7-6.
Tusculum was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008, which was also the last time that the Pioneers won the South Atlantic Conference tournament championship before this year. All four of the Pioneers' losses this season came to nationally-ranked teams, including three to teams still alive in the Southeast Region tournament.
North Georgia defeated Mount Olive 4-0 in the other quarterfinal match on Friday, and the host Nighthawks will play Lander in the region semifinals on Saturday. The winners of Saturday's semifinal matches will meet Sunday for the championship and a berth in the NCAA quarterfinals.
