Wednesday, 04/27/2011

BULLDOGS ADVANCE TO SAC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
WITH 5-3 WIN OVER LINCOLN MEMORIAL THURSDAY
 
            Rock Hill, S.C.----The top-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs defeated fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial 5-3 in semi-final action of the 2011 Food Lion SAC men’s tennis tournament Thursday afternoon at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. The number 39 Bulldogs win their 13th consecutive match, improving to 17-3 overall. LMU falls to 13-6 overall.
 
            Lincoln Memorial’s number one doubles team of Philipp Hoffmann (Karlsruhe, Germany) and Tom Goossens (Moerbeke-Waas, Belgium) gave the Railsplitters a 1-0 lead, taking an 8-2 victory over Andrew Owen (Kitchener, Ontario) and Flavio Rathsam (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
 
            Fernando Montemurro (Sao Pualo, Brazil) and Greg Machado (Sao Pualo, Brazil) evened the match at one with an 8-3 win in number three doubles. Matthew Lichtenstein (Darnestown, Md.) and Braeden Patchell (Oakville, Ontario) won the final two games to claim a 9-7 victory in number three doubles, giving Wingate a 2-1 advantage heading to singles action.
 
            Rathsam notched the first win in singles action, claiming a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Alexey Minevskiy (Taganrog, Russia). Patchell won 6-3, 6-2 over Michael Koenen (Auckland, New Zealand) in number four singles to put the Bulldogs on top 4-1. Hoffman gave LMU a victory at number one singles, defeating Lichtenstein 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to make it 4-2.
 
            Lincoln Memorial’s Marcelo Alvim (Sao Paulo, Brazil) made the score 4-3 with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Owen in number two doubles. Montemurro clinched the win for the Bulldogs, winning his ninth straight match with a 7-5, 7-6 victory over Goossens in number five singles.
 
            The Bulldogs advance to Friday’s championship match, taking on second-seeded Anderson (S.C.) University at 9 a.m. Wingate defeated the AU Trojans 5-4 in the regular season meeting.
 
            (Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)