Radford Edges Gardner-Webb, 4-3, in Men's Tennis Action on Sunday
February 17, 2014 | Men's Tennis
Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb jumped on top by winning the opening doubles points, and got singles wins from juniors Ernest Alberch and Brendan Dempsey, but saw Radford rally for a 4-3 win at the Webb Tennis Complex on Sunday.
Doubles wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions put GWU (2-6) up 1-0 and in prime position to win its Big South opener. Freshman Tyler Macy (Elkin, N.C.) teamed up with Dempsey (Dublin, Ireland) for an 8-5 win over Radford's Mills/Waase pairing at No. 3 doubles.
Radford's Thoen/Ascarrunz won at No. 2 doubles, meaning the doubles point would be decided at the No. 1 spot. Nikita Zverkov and Ernest Alberch powered past Nicholas Sayer and Patrick O'Keefe, getting the key points late to seal an 8-6 win to put the Runnin' Bulldogs up 1-0 entering singles play.
To earn the win, Gardner-Webb would need to split the six singles matches, while Radford needed to win at least four to come from behind.
The No.'s 3 and 4 singles matches were the first to conclude, with Dempsey and Alberch (Torello, Spain) winning those matches, respectively. Dempsey defeated Ascarrunz 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles and Alberch cruised past Thoen at the No. 4 spot to win by a 6-1, 6-0 margin, putting GWU within one singles win of coming away with the victory.
The Highlanders' rally started at No. 1 singles, as Sayer finished off a 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Benjamin Kaszás (Budapest, Hungary). The singles match at the No. 2 spot finished next, with O'Keefe prevailing in a grueling match against Zverkov (Moscow, Russia) that ended in a 7-5, 6-3 score.
At No. 6 singles, Radford's Aymeric Autones out dueled Gardner-Webb freshman Pepe Batalla (Barcelona, Spain) to win 6-2, 6-2.
The match came down to No. 5 singles, where Joe Mills held off a rally from sophomore Jonathan Walker (Elkin, N.C.) to prevail 6-4, 7-5.
Sunday's thrilling match against Radford marks the second 3-4 defeat for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the young 2014 season. Charlotte edged GWU 4-3 on the 49ers' campus in early February.
Gardner-Webb turns around to compete in a road match against Brevard on Monday, February 17. The Runnin' Bulldogs' match at the Tornadoes is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.
Results: Radford 4, GWU 3
Doubles -
No. 1 Nikita Zverkov / Benjamin Kaszás (GWU) def. Nicholas Sayer / Patrick O'Keefe (RAD) 8-6
No. 2 Janken Thoen / Nico Ascarrunz (RAD) def. Benjamin Kaszás / Pepe Batalla (GWU) 8-5
No. 3 Tyler Macy / Brendan Dempsey (GWU) def. Joe Mills / Javier Waase (RAD) 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles -
No. 1 Sayer (RAD) def. Kaszás (GWU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 O'Keefe (RAD) def. Zverkov (GWU) 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 Dempsey (GWU) def. Ascarrunz (RAD) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Alberch (GWU) def. Thoen (RAD) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 Mills (RAD) def. Jonathan Walker (GWU) 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 Aymeric Autones (RAD) def. Batalla (GWU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 1, 2, 6, 5
