BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – In their first home match of the 2018 season, the Runnin' Bulldogs men's tennis squad recovered from an early deficit to defeat the USC Upstate Spartans, 4-3, thanks to Adam Schmidt's victory at No. 4 singles.

"It's great to be home," said head coach Mike Griffith. "We found a way to win and that's what matters. I'm proud of the guys for coming back from the position that we were in. We were down 3-1 and came back. It was a huge victory and great to be back on our home courts and play outdoors for the first time this season."

USC Upstate jumped out to an early lead after clinching the doubles point and winning at No. 2 and No. 6 singles. Maximilian Scholl gave GWU its first win of the contest with a 6-2, 4-0 (ret.) victory at No. 1 singles.

Trailing 3-1, the Runnin' Bulldogs won the final three singles matches of the afternoon to power past the Spartans. Breno Plentz was victorious at No. 5 singles, 7-6 (5), 6-3, while Paul Hogan won at No.3 in three sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

It all came down to the battle at No. 4 singles between the Runnin' Bulldogs' Schmidt and Upstate's Ignacio Garrido. Schmidt fell in the first set, 5-7 before winning the second set by a 7-5 score to set up the third and final set. Set three went to a tiebreaker with Schmidt coming out victorious, 7-6 (7-2) to give GWU its second victory of the season.

The Runnin' Bulldogs improve to 2-4 on the year, while the Spartans drop to 1-3.

Up next, Gardner-Webb will travel to NC Central for the first of nine consecutive road contests. The match between the Runnin' Bulldogs and Eagles is set for Friday, February 9, at 2:30 p.m.