Saturday, 04/02/2011

Newberry, S.C.----The Wingate University men’s tennis team continues its winning ways Saturday, topping South Atlantic Conference foe Newberry College 8-1 at Cannon Courts on the Newberry campus. The Bulldogs have won nine matches in a row.

The number 39 team in the Campbell/ITA NCAA Division II national rankings, Wingate is 13-3 overall and 7-0 in the SAC. Newberry falls to 3-12 overall and 2-4 in the SAC. The Bulldogs visit Coker College next Saturday at 1 p.m. Wingate’s Wednesday contest at Queens University of Charlotte has been cancelled.

Four Wingate players won two matches each Saturday. Bulldog junior Matthew Lichtenstein (Darnestown, Md.) celebrated his number 12 Southeast Region singles ranking with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Michael Saunders (Christchurch, New Zealand) at the number one flight. Earlier in the day, Lichtenstein paired with senior Braeden Patchell (Oakville, Ontario) to defeat Saunders and freshman Mohammed Chakir (Rabat, Morocco) 8-5 at the number two doubles position.

Wingate junior Flavio Rathsam (Sao Paulo, Brazil) collected his 14th consecutive singles victory with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Chakir at the number three singles spot. For his Bulldog career, Rathsam is 43-3 overall in singles play. Rathsam teamed with junior Andrew Owen (Kitchener, Ontario) to defeat Newberry freshmen Vinicius Botelho (Fortaleza, Brazil) and David Sons (Lexington, S.C.) 8-3 in the number one doubles match.

Patchell and senior classmate Fernando Montemurro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) joined Lichtenstein and Rathsam with two victories each. Together, the senior duo lost only four games in singles play. Botelho collected the only point for the host Wolves, earning a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Owen in the number two singles match.