GREENVILLE, S.C. – Gardner-Webb men's tennis dropped its 2020 season opener at Furman by a 4-0 score Saturday afternoon.
"We started out decent in doubles, but Furman was too good today and we didn't have enough singles players to step up today," head coach
Mike Griffith said after the match. "We are looking for a more competitive result tomorrow."
The first finished match came from the doubles #3 position, where
Alex Griffiths and
Stefano Puga lost to Drew Singerman and Clarke Wilson, 6-3. In the doubles #1 position,
Ross Gilbert and
Breno Plentz fell to Jake Munns and Jake Bhangdia 6-4.
The #2 doubles match was unfinished, but when the match was called, Gardner-Webb's
Connor Enslin and
Sebastian Harris were leading 4-3 over Furman's Ivan Mitric and James Roelofse.
In singles action, the first match to finish was Furman's Jake Bhangdia defeating
Victor Putter, 6-1 and then 6-1 from the #3 position. Shortly following the conclusion of that match, Gardner-Webb's
Alex Griffiths lost to Furman's Drew Singerman 6-2 and 6-1 in the #4 position.
The match was clinched by Furman when, in the #1 position, Furman's Jake Munns defeated Gardner-Webb's
Breno Plentz 6-4 and then 6-1. The #2 position match was unfinished but currently had the Paladin's Ivan Mitric winning the first set 7-5, but losing the second set 1-2 to the Runnin' Bulldogs'
Ross Gilbert.
Gardner-Webb falls to 0-1 on the season, while Furman picks up its first win of the year to improve to 1-3.
Next up for the Runnin' Bulldogs is a matchup in Lynchburg, Va. Against Liberty University with a start time of noon.
