BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Maximilian Scholl and Millen Hurrion dominated in doubles play, and the momentum carried over to the rest of the team, as the Runnin' Bulldogs swept the Presbyterian College Blue Hose, 7-0, on Wednesday afternoon.
Scholl and Hurrion are currently ranked 74th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and dominated Presbyterian's Daniel Stenger and Oscar Alvarez, 6-1. Johan Fors and Ross Gilbert won 6-4 at No.3 as Gardner-Webb won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead.
"The start in doubles was important," said head coach Mike Griffith. "Presbyterian is a tough team. I have a lot of respect for them, but we were able to withstand their surge to keep the momentum going. It was a big win for our guys. We know that Presbyterian can beat any team in the Big South on any given day."
Scholl kicked off singles play with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Stenger. It was the Stuttgart, Germany native's 11th consecutive win, and he now stands 11-1 on the year.
Gilbert won at No. 4, defeating Alberto Conde in two sets, 6-4, 6-2, and Fors clinched the victory for the Runnin' Bulldogs with a 6-4, 7-5 win in the No. 5 position.
With the winner already decided, Gardner-Webb did not slow down, winning the final three matches to sweep the Blue Hose.
Moments after Fors clinched the match for GWU, Sebastian Harris was victorious in the No. 6 flight. Harris won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3) but needed just nine games to defeat Elias Svensson in set two.
Harris' victory gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 5-0 lead, and Breno Plentz made it a 6-0 score in favor of the 'Dogs win a two-set win in the No. 3 flight.
Whether or not Gardner-Webb would sweep the Blue Hose was left up to Hurrion, the country's 107th-ranked singles player.
Hurrion fell to Max Benson in the first set, but evened the match with a 6-4 win in set two. With a sweep on the line, Hurrion made quick work of his opponent, defeating Benson, 6-3, in the third and final set.
The win was Gardner-Webb's seventh consecutive. The 'Dogs are now 7-5 overall and 2-0 in Big South Conference action. Presbyterian drops to 8-12 and 2-2 in conference play.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action on Friday, March 29 at Big South opponent Radford. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
