CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's tennis team
packed several of its closest matches of the season into a thrilling regular
season finale against Coastal Carolina on Saturday but the Chanticleers
prevailed, 6-1.
PC will head into the Big South Men's Tournament with an
11-13 overall season and a 0-6 record in Big South competition. Coastal moves
to 10-7 with a 3-2 conference record.
The contest featured two extended doubles matches and three
singles matches that went into a third set.
Doubles play saw several narrow losses and a close PC win.
Grayson Mills (Lilburn, Ga.) and Rafael Berghaus (Offenbach,
Germany) held off Matt Gordon and Peter Billingham to grab PC's doubles win,
8-6. The victory gave the pair their third doubles win together in the first
flight as the tandem now boasts a 3-1 top-flight record.
The Blue Hose battled to grab the doubles point but two slim
margins handed the point to the Chanticleers. Andrew Brigham (Birmingham,
England) and Gonzalo Asis (Madrid, Spain) dropped a second-flight battle to Alex
Funkhouser and Dorian Sovic, 9-8.
Edward Snead IV (Greenwood, S.C.) and Zachary Sprouse
(Hilton Head, S.C.) found themselves in a tight match in the third flight as
well, facing Danny Heidecker and Yusuke Kusuda. The Blue Hose took seven from
the Chanticleer pair but the visitors took the match, 9-7.
The Blue Hose came close to winning a number of matches in
singles action.
Berghaus captured a third-flight win for his team-leading 13th
singles win of the year. The freshman topped Alex Funkhouser in a lengthy
two-set match, 7-6, 7-5.
In the second flight, Brigham won the first set against
Kusuda, 6-2, before dropping a tight second set, 7-6. Kusuda then outlasted
Brigham the third to seal the win, 6-2.
Asis dropped a close first set to Heidecker in the fourth
flight, 7-6, before falling 6-4 in the second.
The fifth flight featured an experienced Sprouse battle back
from an opening 7-6 loss to even the contest with a 7-5 second set victory. The
PC junior fell in the third, however, 6-1.
Freshman Nathan Crocker (Clinton, S.C.) took on Leo
Christofides in the sixth set and started strong, taking the first set by a 7-6
margin. The Chanticleer held off Crocker, though, winning the final two sets,
6-3, 6-2.
The Blue Hose now await their position at the Big South Men's
Tennis Championship, which runs from Thursday, April 21, to Saturday, April 23,
in Rock Hill, S.C.
Singles competition
1. GORDON, Matt (COASTAL) def. MILLS, Grayson (PC-M) 6-4, 6-3
2. KUSUDA, Yusuke (COASTAL) def. BRIGHAM, Andrew (PC-M) 2-6, 7-6, 6-2
3. BERGHAUS, Rafael (PC-M) def. FUNKHOUSER, Alex (COASTAL) 7-6, 7-5
4. HEIDECKER, Danny (COASTAL) def. ASIS, Gonzalo (PC-M) 7-6, 6-4
5. SOVIC, Dorian (COASTAL) def. SPROUSE, Zachary (PC-M) 7-6, 5-7, 6-1
6. CHRISTOFIDES, Leo (COASTAL) def. CROCKER, Nathan (PC-M) 6-7, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. MILLS, Grayson/BERGHAUS, Rafael (PC-M) def. GORDON, Matt/BILLINGHAM, Peter
(COASTAL) 8-6
2. FUNKHOUSER, Alex/SOVIC, Dorian (COASTAL) def. BRIGHAM, Andrew/ASIS, Gonzalo
(PC-M) 9-8
3. HEIDECKER, Danny/KUSUDA, Yusuke (COASTAL) def. SPROUSE, Zachary/SNEAD,
Edward (PC-M) 9-7
