CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In the final tournament of the fall season, head coach Mike Griffith and six Runnin' Bulldogs traveled to Charlotte to play in the Charlotte 49ers Fall Invitational.

Breno Plentz, Stefano Puga, Sebastian Harris, Bonventura Durall, Jacob Wall and Nicolas Ulehla competed for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the rain-shortened, two-day invitational.

"These six really wanted to compete," said head coach Mike Griffith. That says a lot about our team and their dedication.  Most of these players are battling for playing time come spring, and playing outside competition is the top factor for who plays in our spring season and who doesn't."
 
Below are details are the Gardner-Webb's performances in the invitational.

Singles
Plentz lost a first-round heartbreaker to Elon's Camilo Ponce in three sets, winning the second set, 7-5, but losing sets one and three. On the consolation side of the bracket he defeated Davidson's Tommy Mason, 6-3, 6-1. He worked his way into the consolation finals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over South Carolina's Beau Pelletier. In the finals, Plentz faced off against a second Davidson Wildcat, Brooks Green, and won in three sets, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.

"It's no secret to anyone who knows our team, if Breno plays well we win," Griffith added. 
"It's a lot of pressure, but he is our emotional leader and we need him. This fall he has been outstanding, even better then when he was Second-Team All-Big South his freshmen year."
 
Harris, a freshman, followed a similar path as Plentz on the opening day of action, losing his first match but rebounding to win his first battle in the consolation bracket. Harris fell to Charlotte's Oliver Sec, 6-3, 6-4 but earned a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 over Wofford's Bryce Keim to close out the day. In his final match, he lost to Wofford's Kyle Barr, 7-5, 6-3.

Stefano Puga lost a pair of matches on Saturday, falling to Elon's Felipe Sarrasague and Davidson's Brooks Green. Both matches lasted two sets. Puga ended singles play with a win over UNC Asheville's Sirawit Daosaengsawang.
Durall, Ulehla and Wall all played in the same singles bracket over the weekend.

Durall won a pair of matches on day one that both went three sets, first defeating UNCG's Logan Blaser, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (2) and ending the day with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over UNCA's Logan Massie. Although Durall won the first set against Asheville's Finlay McFayden, he was defeated in three sets in his final match of the weekend. Durall then played for third place against an opponent from UNCG and was leading when the match was called due to darkness.

Despite winning the first set of his opening match on Saturday, Ulehla fell to his first-round opponent, Davidson's Michael Rose but proceeded to defeat UNCA's Andrew Sinai, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Against Griffith, Ulehla won in two sets, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to advance to the consolation finals. In the finals, Ulehla came up short, falling, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Wake Forest's Charlie Perry.

Wall lost his first-round contest to Charlotte's Michael Bass, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and earned a bye to the second round of the consolation bracket. Wall then fell to Wake Forest's Charlie Perry (6-2, 6-3) and Charlotte's Nate Griffith (6-2, 6-4) to end play.

Doubles
In doubles play, Harris and Durall teamed up but lost a battle to Elon's Frankel and Ponce on Saturday. On the final day of action, the duo defeated Charlotte's Menezes and Puig. A score was not available.
Puga and Plentz also teamed up in doubles and won their first round match over Sinai and McFadyden from UNCA, 6-4. The remainder of the results for the bracket were unavailable.

Up Next
The 'Dogs will now turn their attention to preparing for the 2019 season. The schedule will be released at a later date. Be sure to check gwusports.com for the latest Gardner-Webb men's tennis news.