BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – On Wednesday afternoon tennis, UNC Greensboro came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Gardner-Webb, 4-3. The win marks the first victory of the year for the Spartans.
"It was an exciting match of tennis, very back-and-forth," said Head Coach
Mike Griffith. "We dominated in the #5 and #6 singles matches, but these efforts proved to not be enough against this talented team."
The Spartans got an early lead in doubles with their quick 6-2 win at #2 against
Breno Plentz and
Stefano Puga. Gardner-Webb answered with
Chrisjan Van Wyk and
Victor Putter winning 6-4 in the #1 flight. The win moved the duo to a 7-0 record when paired together on the season.
The doubles point was clinched in a tiebreaker at the #3 position after
John Spring and
Sebastian Harris' victory 7-6(5).
Singles action started with three matches ending back-to-back-to-back. Spring continued his winning streak as he topped David Flisberg in the #6 flight 6-3, 6-3. Shortly after, the Spartans' Ollie Palmer knocked off Van Wyk 6-4, 6-1 in the #2 position. Then Harris' match at #5 ended with him on top 6-2, 6-1, extending his win streak to four. His victory gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 3-1 overall lead with three singles matches remaining on the day.
At the #3 position, the Spartans' Nico Grewe won 6-4, 6-2 over Plentz.
Connor Enslin battled back into his match at #4 after losing the first set, however, he lost to Alexander Zuckerman 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The decision came down to the topflight which needed tiebreakers in the first two sets. UNC Greensboro's Hugh Knapp prevailed in the match despite Putter's strong effort 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-1, sealing the Spartans' victory.
"We need to solidify wins in three-set matches, this is somewhere we need to improve moving into the rest of the season," said Griffith. "There was a lot everyone was able to learn from today and now we need to apply it to the remaining matches."
The Runnin' Bulldogs will face Limestone at the Webb Tennis Complex on Friday at 3:30 p.m. for their next competition. The weekend will conclude with a home match against Davidson at 2:00 p.m.
