AMERICUS - The Georgia Southwestern men's tennis team had the daunting task of facing a pair of nationally-ranked Peach Belt Conference opponents after opening the weekend with a Division I match at Mercer University.
On Sunday GSW had its best NCAA-era showing against Lander. The Hurricanes had never earned a point against LU in the previous six meetings as the Bearcats had tallied an impressive 54-0 combined team score.
Valentin Demande put an end to the streak.
Demande defeated Paulo Fernandes at No. 6 singles to pick up his fourth win of the season.
Joseph Bjerregaard had a chance to earn a second team point for GSW after pushing Adam Jonsson to a 10-point match-deciding tiebreaker. Jonsson prevailed, holding off Bjerregaard, 10-6.
Sunday Results
(Susan K. Smith Tennis Complex)
#8 Lander University 8, Georgia Southwestern 1
Singles competition
1. Vincent Verpeaux (LUM) def. Evgeniy Vinogradov (GSW-M) 6-1, 6-1
2. Samuel Poutignat (LUM) def. Jake Koonce (GSW-M) 6-3, 6-4
3. Adam Jonsson (LUM) def. Joseph Bjerregaard (GSW-M) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-6)
4. Oscar Axelsson (LUM) def. Matt Vansant (GSW-M) 6-2, 6-2
5. August Iwdal (LUM) def. Stephen Moore (GSW-M) 6-1, 6-2
6. Valentin Demande (GSW-M) def. Paulo Fernandes (LUM) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Doubles competition
1. August Iwdal/Adam Jonsson (LUM) def. Evgeniy Vinogradov/Jake Koonce (GSW-M) 8-6
2. Paul-Henri Arrigoni/Vincent Verpeaux (LUM) def. Tommy Cangelosi/Chris Eastwood (GSW-M) 8-1
3. Samuel Poutignat/Oscar Axelsson (LUM) def. Joseph Bjerregaard/Matt Vansant (GSW-M) 8-0
Match Notes:
Lander University 7-0, 4-0 PBC; National ranking #8; Regional ranking #3
Georgia Southwestern 1-7, 0-4 PBC
Saturday Results
(Susan K. Smith Tennis Complex)
#23 USC Aiken 7, Georgia Southwestern 2
After suffering four-consecutive 9-0 defeats at the hands of USC Aiken from 2007-10, GSW has closed the gap with the Pacers and enjoyed some close matches in recent years. In 2011, the Hurricanes fell 5-4 and on Saturday almost every match went down to the wire.
GSW picked up a win at No. 3 doubles were Joseph Bjerregaard and Matt Vansant knocked off Lucas Gobbi and Ettore Damiani, 8-6. Evgeniy Vinogradov and Jake Koonce lost 8-6 at No. 1.
The Hurricanes lone win in singles came at No. 6 where Tommy Cangelosi defeated Bruno Orlandini 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7).
Koonce at No. 1 and Vansant at No. 3 forced their singles matches to a decisive third set. Bjerregaard and Valentin Demande dropped opening-set tiebreakers before losing their second sets.
Singles competition
1. Kevin Zerath (USCAM) def. Jake Koonce (GSW-M) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
2. Patrick Stiebinger (USCAM) def. Joseph Bjerregaard (GSW-M) 7-6, 6-4
3. Lucas Gobbi (USCAM) def. Matt Vansant (GSW-M) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
4. Andy Quirk (USCAM) def. Stephen Moore (GSW-M) 6-1, 6-1
5. Ettore Damiani (USCAM) def. Valentin Demande (GSW-M) 7-6, 6-3
6. Tommy Cangelosi (GSW-M) def. Bruno Orlandini (USCAM) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. Kevin Zerath/Patrick Stiebinger (USCAM) def. Evgeniy Vinogradov/Jake Koonce (GSW-M) 8-6
2. Andy Quirk/Bruno Orlandini (USCAM) def. Chris Eastwood/Tommy Cangelosi (GSW-M) 8-5
3. Joseph Bjerregaard/Matt Vansant (GSW-M) def. Lucas Gobbi/Ettore Damiani (USCAM) 8-6
Match Notes:
USC Aiken 5-1, 1-1 PBC; National ranking #23; Regional ranking #6
Georgia Southwestern 1-6, 0-3 PBC
Friday Results
Macon, Ga.
(LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center)
Mercer University 6, Georgia Southwestern 1
GSW forced the Division I Bears to take notice when they won two of three doubles matches to earn the first team point heading into singles play and then grabbed first-set advantages at No. 1 and No. 3 singles.
Evgeniy Vinogradov and Jake Koonce defeated Peter Tauchner and Joao Pagan, 9-8, at No. 1 doubles and Chris Eastwood and Tommy Cangelosi prevailed, 8-5, over Arnav Mohanty and Arsav Mohanty at No. 2. Division I rules state that the school earning at least two of the victories in doubles earns one point towars the team tally.
Singles competition
1. Peter Tauchner (MERCER) def. Evgeniy Vinogradov (GSW-M) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Arnav Mohanty (MERCER) def. Jake Koonce (GSW-M) 6-3, 6-3
3. Joao Pagan (MERCER) def. Joseph Bjerregaard (GSW-M) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
4. Anderson Scarpa (MERCER) def. Matt Vansant (GSW-M) 6-0, 6-0
5. Arsav Mohanty (MERCER) def. Stephen Moore (GSW-M) 6-3, 6-1
6. Vincent DeLise (MERCER) def. Valentin Demande (GSW-M) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Evgeniy Vinogradov/Jake Koonce (GSW-M) def. Peter Tauchner/Joao Pagan (MERCER) 9-8
2. Chris Eastwood/Tommy Cangelosi (GSW-M) def. Arnav Mohanty/Arsav Mohanty (MERCER) 8-5
3. Anderson Scarpa/Vincent DeLise (MERCER) def. Joseph Bjerregaard/Matt Vansant (GSW-M) 8-1
Match Notes:
Georgia Southwestern 1-5
Mercer University 2-9
The Hurricanes return to action on Tuesday with a non-conference match at home against Fort Valley State at 2 p.m.