DURHAM, N.C. – Headlined by Breno Plentz' win in the consolation third-place match in the royal bracket, the four Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs that played in Duke's James Bonk Invitational all had solid performances.
 
Coach Mike Griffith took two freshmen, Connor Enslin and Victor Putter, along with a pair seniors, Plentz and Ross Gilbert. The reigning Big South Conference Coach of the Year had positive remarks about the three days of action.
 
"Everyone we took won matches," said Griffith. "We had some great wins this weekend, but we have to work on our consistency and killer mentality. We can't drop points and games, and we need to avoid slow starts. My expectations are very high. We expect to win every match, and we will continue to get better."
 
Despite a first-round loss in the royal bracket, Plentz was the most consistent player of the weekend and advanced to the consolation third-place match. In the consolation bracket, he defeated Liberty's Deji Thomas-Smith (7-6(1), 3-6, 6-1) and faced off against Charlotte's Leonardo Menezes in the third-place consolation match. He defeated Menezes, 6-2, 6-4.
 
Enslin received a bye in the opening round of the white singles bracket but fell to Elon's Camilo Ponce in Saturday morning's quarterfinal match. In the afternoon, he topped Bruno Caula of UNCW, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 and played Furman's Clarke Wilson for fifth on Sunday. Wilson defeated Enslin in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. 
 
In the blue singles bracket, Gilbert fell to the Blue Devils' Nick Stachowiak, 6-1, 6-1 to open play. After a loss in the consolation quarterfinals, he won by default on Saturday and battled Liberty's Chase Burton for 13th place on Sunday. Gilbert fell to Burton in three sets (1-6, 7-5, 7-5)
 
Putter played in the black singles bracket and won his first match on Saturday afternoon after dropping contests to Chen Ruo (William & Mary) and Joseph Schrader (NC State). He defeated William Barker of Liberty in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5 and evened his record at 2-2 with a win over Peter Glenn (Charlotte), 6-3, 6-4.
 
In doubles action, Putter and Enslin finished fourth in the white bracket. They defeated Collin Shick and Joseph Schrader, 6-2, before falling to North Florida's Joe Ellis and Dominik Barton in the semifinals, 6-4. They lost the third-place match to Furman by an identical score. 
 
Gilbert and Plentz finished 2-1 overall in the blue doubles bracket. They defeated Charlotte's Constantinos Christoforou and Benjamin Wayand, 6-1 and also beat Elon's Sam Dively and Nicholas Condos, 6-3. They narrowly missed out a perfect 3-0 weekend, falling to Duke's Edu Guell and Michael Heller, 6-4, in their final match.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs will take next weekend off before traveling to UNC Asheville for a doubles tournament from October 4-6.