CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's tennis team
dropped a tight Big South Conference match on Sunday, coming up short to
Coastal Carolina in a 4-3 loss.
PC moves to 11-11 overall and 1-3 in league play. Coastal
Carolina improves to 11-3 on the year and 3-1 in conference action.
Coastal won the doubles point, but the Blue Hose took the
top two singles matches to stay close. The Chanticleers sealed the win at No. 5
and No. 4, however, despite a final victory at the final flight.
Rafael Berghaus (Offenbach, Germany) won at both No. 1
singles and doubles. The Blue Hose sophomore outlasted Leo Christofides at the
top flight, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, to win his team-leading 13th singles
match of the season. The victory matches Berghaus' 13-win campaign from last year.
Grayson Mills (Lilburn, Ga.) also picked up a win at No. 2,
dispatching Yusuke Kusuda by a 6-1, 6-4 margin. The win marked Mills' third straight
and moved him to3-0 in Big South matches.
Gonzalo Asis (Madrid, Spain) earned a win at No. 6 in
thrilling fashion. Asis dropped the first set to John Karle, 7-5, before
gutting out a 7-6 second-set victory and taking the 10-point tiebreaker,
10-7.
At No. 4,William O'Connell (Nadi, Fiji) dropped a
hard-fought match to Garik Yedigarian, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
In the day's other singles contests, Zachary Sprouse (Hilton
Head, S.C.) fell to Matias Di Pasquale at the third flight, 6-0, 6-0, while
Andrew Brigham (Birmingham, England) stumbled at No. 5 to Sam Barr, 6-3, 6-4.
Berghaus and O'Connell teamed up for a No. 1 doubles win
over Danny Heidecker and Yedigarian, 8-6. The pair improves their record together
to 9-1 on the year.
Nathan Crocker (Clinton, S.C.) and Edward Snead IV
(Greenwood, S.C.) battled at No. 3 but fell short to Karle and Barr, 8-6. At
No. 2, Sprouse and Brigham suffered a setback against Di Pasquale and Kusuda,
8-5.
The Blue Hose host Appalachian State on Tuesday in the team's
home finale. Live video of the match will be available on the Big South
Network.
Singles competition
1. BERGHAUS, Rafael (PCM) def. CHRISTOFIDES, Leo (COASTALM) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6
2. MILLS, Grayson (PCM) def. KUSUDA, Yusuke (COASTALM) 6-1, 6-4
3. DI PASQUALE, Matias (COASTALM) def. SPROUSE, Zachary (PCM) 6-0, 6-0
4. YEDIGARIAN, Garik (COASTALM) def. O'CONNELL, William (PCM) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
5. BARR, Sam (COASTALM) def. BRIGHAM, Andrew (PCM) 6-3, 6-4
6. ASIS, Gonzalo (PCM) def. KARLE, John (COASTALM) 5-7, 7-6, 10-7
Doubles competition
1. BERGHAUS, Rafael/O'CONNELL, William (PCM) def. HEIDECKER, Danny/YEDIGARIAN, Garik (COASTALM) 8-6
2. DI PASQUALE, Matias/KUSUDA, Yusuke (COASTALM) def. BRIGHAM, Andrew/SPROUSE, Zachary (PCM) 8-5
3. KARLE, John/BARR, Sam (COASTALM) def. SNEAD, Edward/CROCKER, Nathan (PCM) 8-6
