ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Carlos
Garcia accounted for two points to lead top-seed Tusculum
to a 5-1 win over No. 3 Newberry to win the 2008 Food Lion South
Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament, Saturday afternoon at
the Rock Hill Tennis Center.
The Pioneers (20-1), winners of their last 14, capture the
program's second Food Lion SAC Tournament trophy, while also
establishing a new school single-season record with 20 victories.
Newberry ends its season at 10-7, winning five of its last
seven.
During this week's tournament, Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela) went
3-0 in both singles and doubles play and was named the 2008 Food
Lion SAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
In doubles action, Tusculum won a point at the second flight when
the duo of Henrique Rodrigues (Salvador-Bahia, Brazil) and
Leo Guaycurus (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) downed the
Newberry pairing of Lucas Mattos (Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil) and Maxim Sukharev (Vilnius, Lithuania),
8-4.
Tusculum made it a 2-0 advantage as Garcia and No. 1 doubles
partner Sergio Espinosa (Caracas, Venezuela)
rallied from a 6-5 deficit to score the final three points of the
match to win 8-6 over Jeremy Smith (Durban, South
Africa) and Daryl Van Vuuren (Durban, South
Africa).
But Newberry gained a spark heading into singles play as the duo
of Mikael Jurkovic (Atlanta, Ga.) and
Felipe Sobrinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) rallied
from 6-3 down to score the final five points to win 8-6 at No. 3
doubles.
With Tusculum leading 2-1, Espinosa scored a 6-4, 6-1 win over Van
Vuuren at No. 2 singles to move TC up 3-1. Garcia edged the
Pioneers closer to victory with his 6-4, 6-1 win against Smith at
the third flight. The fifth and deciding point came at No. 1
singles as Bigler recorded a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Sukharev to seal
the win.
Tusculum earns the league's automatic berth to next month's NCAA
Division II Tournament. It will be the Pioneers second straight
trip to the national postseason and sixth in school history.
- SAC -
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis
Tournament Championship
No. 1 Tusculum 5, No. 3 Newberry 1 (Final)
Singles
1 Nicolas Bigler (TC) def. Maxim Sukharev (NEW), 6-1, 6-3
2 Sergio Espinosa (TC) def. Daryl Van Vuuren (NEW), 6-4, 6-1
3 Carlos Garcia (TC) def. Jeremy Smith (NEW), 6-4, 6-1
4 Henrique Rodrigues (TC) vs. Lucas Mattos (NEW), DNF
5 Leo Guaycurus (TC) vs. Felipe Sobrinho (NEW), DNF
6 Hunter Beal (TC) vs. Mikael Jurkovic (NEW), DNF
Doubles
1 Garcia/Espinosa (TC) def. Smith/Vuuren (NEW), 8-6
2 Guaycurus/Rodrigues (TC) def. Mattos/Sukharev (NEW), 8-4
3 Jurkovic/Sobrinho (NEW) def. Bigler/Beal (TC), 8-6
Records: Tusculum (20-1); Newberry (10-7)
