Bulldogs Sweep Singles in 6-1 Win over Lees-McRae
February 18, 2008 | Men's Tennis
The Gardner-Webb men's tennis team dropped the doubles point, but rebounded to win all six singles matches for a 6-1 win over Lees-McRae College. The win propels the Bulldogs to 4-5 on the season, while Lees-McRae goes to 4-3.
The Bulldogs didn't start out so hot in doubles play. The tandem of Andrew Veeder and Grant Van Rensburg was the lone pairing to win in doubles for the ‘Dogs with an 8-3 win over the Bobcat's Mike Ridenhour and Travis Vanhoy at the No. 2 spot.
The duo of Evgeny Slesarev and Carlos Quijano had their match at the No. 1 position in their fingertips and let it slip away. The two ‘dogs lost their match 6-8 to the team of Nandor Solymosi and Shaun Sumner of Lees-McRae after the Bobcats broke serve late in the match. Gardner-Webb's third team also lost 6-8, which makes two in a row for Ryan Bernthal and Jamie Lawlor.
The Bulldogs regrouped after dropping the doubles point and made it a point to protect their house.
Sophomore Grant Van Rensburg came out on fire in singles competition. Van Rensburg did not drop a single point on his way to a 6-0, 6-0 over Mike Ridenhour at the fifth spot. Van Rensburg seemed to use the wind to his advantage and hit the shots he knew would put the most pressure on Ridenhour which proved very effective.
Senior Taylor Ferrier also had a dominating match on Monday afternoon. Ferrier made quick work of Lees-McRae's Blair Propert, winning 6-2, 6-0 at the sixth spot for the ‘Dogs.
The rest of the singles matches (1-4) could have went either way in the early going.
Andrew Veeder won his match at the two spot 6-4, 6-3 for the Bulldogs. Veeder played a tough opponent in Alex Mojski, whose serve caused Veeder some problems in the early going. Veeder rebounded halfway through the first set and put it away in the second to get back on the winning track.
Carlos Quijano's match was similar to Veeder's. Quijano played a great match against Shaun Sumner of Lees-McRae at the third spot. Sumner was very athletic, but Quijano did not shake and took the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory of his own. It was a good win for both Quijano and the Bulldogs. Quijano showed a lot of confidence during the second set, something he has had trouble with in the past.
Sophomore Rafael Altmayer clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a 7-5, 6-2 win over the Bobcat's Travis Vanhoy. Vanhoy was up midway through the first, but Altmayer broke a couple of Vanhoy's serves in order to take the 7-5 win. GWU's No. 4 used the momentum in the second and won the second pretty handily. The win also was the clincher for the Bulldogs to take the match.
GWU's No. 1 Evgeny Slesarev got back on the winning track too with his 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over the Bobcat's Nandor Solymosi. Solymosi rattle Slesarev in the first set with a great first serve percentage. Despite dropping the first, Slesarev bounced back like a true No. 1 and dominated the second set 6-1. He then went on to take the third 6-4. The win marks Slesarev's fourth in his last five matches.
Gardner-Webb also won both of the exhibition matches on the day. Jamie Lawlor defeated Lees-McRae's Jesse Laughrun 6-1, 6-3, while Joshua Ray won his match 7-6, 6-4 over the Bobcat's Romulus Teague to make it eight for eight.
After the match Coach Griffith commented, "Lees-McRae is a good team and they came out ready to play today. We could have easily lost this match because the first half of the match was fairly even. We grinded out a good win today and I am proud of the way our team rebounded in singles."
The Bulldogs are back in action this weekend as they head down to the coast to face Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The match will be held on Saturday, February 23 at 11 a.m.
| Team Stats |
| Box Score |
| Individual Stats |
