Friday, April 20, 2007

 

TUSCULUM MEN ADVANCE TO SAC TOURNAMENT FINAL, PIONEERS BEAT NEWBERRY 5-0

 

MARS HILL, N.C. --- Second seeded Tusculum College advanced to the finals of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament Friday morning.  Tusculum defeated No. 3 Newberry College, 5-0.

 

Tusculum will meet top-seeded and No. 30 Presbyterian College at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the championship game. The event is being played at the Hart Tennis Complex on the campus of Mars Hill College.

 

The Pioneers swept doubles play to take a 3-0 lead heading into singles play. Second team All-SAC member Carlos Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela) and Sergio Espinosa (Caracas, Venezuela) paired up at No. 1 doubles to win 9-8 over Daryl Van Vuuren (Durban, South Africa) and Jeremy Smith (Durban, South Africa).

 

Leo Guaycurus (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Henrique Rodrigues (Salva dor-Bahia, Brazil) then defeated Maxim Sukharev (Vilnius, Lithuania) and Felipe Sobrinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 8-6, at No. 2 doubles.

 

TC finished the sweep in doubles action when Julien Jacob (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) and Nicolas Bigler (Chernex, Switzerland) defeated Scott Gates (Atlanta, GA) and Mikael Jurkovic (Atlanta, GA) by a score of 8-5.

 

Espinosa, a first team All-SAC pick, won the Pioneers' fourth point at No. 1 singles defeating first team All-SAC selection Sukharev in straight sets (6-4, 6-3). Bigler ended the match with a straight set victory (6-1, 6-3) over Van Vuuren, a second team All-SAC selection. Tusculum improved to 15-5 overall while Newberry has a record of 7-8.

 

- SAC -

 

Tusculum 5, Newberry 0

 

Singles

 

1 - Sergio Espinosa (TC) def. Maxim Sukharev (NC)

6-4, 6-3

2 - Nicolas Bigler (TC) def. Daryl Van Vuuren (NC)

6-1, 6-3

3 - Carlos Garcis (TC) vs. Jeremy Smith (NC),

DNF

4 - Henrique Rodrigues (TC) vs. Felipe Sobrinho (NC),

DNF

5 - Leo Guaycurus (TC) vs. Lucas Mattos (NC),

DNF

6 - Hunter Beal (TC) vs. Scott Gates (NC),

DNF

Doubles

 

1 - Garcia/Espinosa (TC) def. Van Vuuren/Smith (NC)

9-8

2 - Guaycurus/Rodrigues (TC) def. Sukharev/Sobrinho (NC)

8-6

3 - Julien Jacob/Bigler (TC) def. Gates/Mikael Jurkovic (NC)

8-5