Box Score BUIES CREEK, N.C. – After dropping a heart-breaking 4-3 decision at Elon Thursday, the Gardner-Webb men's tennis team exhibited the mental fortitude of a champion as the Runnin' Bulldogs bounced back with a gutty-gritty 4-3 win over host Campbell Saturday at the Nisbet Tennis Center.

Gardner-Webb, which snapped a brief two-match skid, improved to 9-2 on the season.

Campbell, who left the Big South Conference to compete in the Colonial Athletic Association at the end of last season, fell to 5-5 as the Camels suffered their first home loss of the spring.

The Runnin' Bulldogs picked up the doubles point to start the day in a decisive rubber match on Court No.2.

The 'Dawgs No.1 tandem of senior Eduardo Dias (Parana, Brazil) and senior Chrisjan Van Wyk (Pretoria, South Africa) got things rolling in doubles with a victory over Damien Nezar and Benjamin Maes 6-2.

A pair of freshman, Graham Bourne and Johan Van Wijk, who is the reigning Big South Freshman of the Week, fell (4-6) to Campbell's No.3 doubles tandem of Noe Maquart and Pol Otin to set up the decisive match on Court No.2.

Senior John Spring (Miramar Beach, Fla.) and junior Numa Lemieux-Monette (Montreal, Canada) won the deciding doubles match 7-6 (7-5) over Campbell's Lukas Steffen and Tomas Balazi.

Gardner-Webb extended the lead to 3-0 with singles victories from Dias (6-0, 7-5) on Court No.1 and Kim Niethammer (Harrenburg, Germany) on Court No.4 (6-3, 6-1).

Campbell, however, battled back with three straight decisions, as the Camels got on the board when Johan Van Wijk lost (5-7, 0-6) on Court No.6 to Otin.

Numa Lemieux-Monette (6-4, 4-6, 4-6) lost a three-set decision in singles No. 3 to Steffen.

'Dawgs junior Alex Lepine (Montreal, Canada) (4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (4-7) fell on Court No.3 to Maes to knot things up 3-3 and set up yet another deciding match.

In the deciding match on Court No.5, GWU's Chrisjan Van Wyk and Campbell's Luke Tollenaar split their first two frames 6-4, 3-6 before Van Wyk claimed the third set 6-2 to seal the eighth road win of the season for the Runnin' Bulldogs.

"To come through today and bounce back after a tough 4-3 loss (at Elon) just 48 hours ago shows our resilience as a team," said Gardner-Webb assistant tennis coach Sebastion Harris, who is in hist first year on the Gardner-Webb coaching staff following a five-season playing career with the Runnin' Bulldogs. "It is another step up the ladder towards our season goals."

UP NEXT: - Gardner -Webb will be busy this upcoming week as the Runnin' Bulldogs will have three matches.

The 'Dawgs will travel to Gaffney, S.C. to face Limestone University at the Emmie Evans Rector Tennis Center on Wednesday (2/28). The match begins at 2:30 PM.

Big South Conference play begins on Friday (3/1) when Presbyterian comes to the Webb Tennis Center for a 2PM conference match.

Finally on Sunday (3/3), the 'Dawgs will entertain Tennessee Chattanooga at the Webb Tennis Center for a 12:30 PM non-conference match.