Gardner-Webb University
Winthrop Invitational
Gardner-Webb Men's Tennis Has Strong Showing at 2014 Winthrop Fall Invitational
November 02, 2014 | Men's Tennis
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Gardner-Webb men's tennis team traveled senior Ernest Alberch, junior Nikita Zverkov and red-shirt freshman Paul Hogan to participate in this weekend's Winthrop Fall Invitational hosted at the Memorial Courts Tennis Complex on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.
The red-shirt freshman Hogan came away from the event with the best overall individual record finishing 3-1 on the weekend earning a third-place finish in the Flight C Singles draw. Hogan defeated Ben Tolhurst of North Carolina Wesleyan in his first round match in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) and then defeated Limestone's Benji Lascari Diaz also in straight sets (6-3, 6-2), before falling in the semi-final match to Lukas Luckemeier of Presbyterian (2-6, 6-7). Hogan finished his weekend out with yet another straight set match defeating UAB's Henry Paiste (6-1, 6-4) to claim the third-place honors showcasing some of his strongest tennis at the collegiate level.
Alberch also played well this weekend end finishing fourth overall in the Flight B Singles draw. Alberch started off his weekend defeating Evan Watkins from Davidson in his first round match (6-3, 6-3), followed by a strong-played three set match against North Carolina Wesleyan's Fabio Pereira winning (6-1, 4-6, 6-4). Alberch then dropped his next two matches losing (3-6, 6-7) to UNC Asheville's Josh Swindeler and (3-6, 3-6) to Jack Maddocks from Appalachian State.
Zverkov like his two other teammates started off his Flight A Singles draw with a first round win over Matt Hill of UAB (6-4, 7-5), but then dropped his second round match to Winthrop's Tremayne Mitchell (3-6, 3-6). Zverkov then dropped his consolation match to Sebastian Sikh from North Carolina Wesleyan (4-6, 7-6, 0-1), but rebounded to defeat Presbyterian's Ryan Miller in straight sets (7-5, 6-0) to claim seventh-place overall.
Alberch and Zverkov also teamed up to play in the Flight A Doubles draw this weekend. They lost their opening round match to the team of Croker/Laundau from UNC Asheville (8-2) and were scheduled to square off against Hill/Poysti from UAB in the consolation side of the draw but due to inclement weather they were uable to complete that match.
Hogan joined with Winthrop's J.D. O'Brien to compete in the Flight C Doubles draw. The two played well in their opening match defeating the team of Benji/Poda from Limestone 8-7, followed by a second round defeat by Presbyterian's Mills/Bruce 5-8. They then received a walkover bye in their first consolation match before falling to the team of Howard/Khrapko from Davidson 8-4 in the consolation final.
The Gardner-Webb men's tennis team will complete its fall slate of matches when it competes in the 2014 Wofford Fall Invitational this coming weekend hosted by Wofford College from November 7-9th in Spartanburg, S.C.
