SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's tennis
team dropped its third match of the spring in another close defeat, falling to
USC Upstate on Sunday, 4-3.
PC moves to 2-3 overall on the year and 0-3 in the spring.
USC Upstate begins its season at 1-0.
The match saw three three-set singles results and narrow
margins in doubles play.
Upstate captured the doubles point as Yvon Haessig and Gonzalo
Blanco edged Andrew Brigham (Birmingham, England) and William O'Connell (Nadi,
Fiji) at No. 2, 8-5, before Jamie Yates and Jacob Darling clipped Nathan
Crocker (Clinton, S.C.) and Edward Snead IV (Greenwood, S.C.) at the third flight, 8-6.
The win sealed the point but Rafael Berghaus (Offenbach,
Germany) and Grayson Mills (Lilburn, Ga.) stood tied with Matthias Kidler and
Viktor Selander at the unfinished top flight, 7-7.
In singles action, PC stormed back to tie the match at 3-3
before the Upstate win.
Matthias Kidler gave the Spartans their first singles win at
the top flight over Mills, 6-4, 6-0. Berghaus took the point back, however, as the
Blue Hose junior grabbed a hard-fought win at No. 3 over Yvon Haessig, 6-4,
7-5.
Gonzalo Asis (Madrid, Spain) followed with another PC win at
the sixth flight. Asis battled to knock off Ramon Simonetti, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2,
for his third win of 2012-13.
Danny Bruce (Marietta, Ga.) fell in his second straight
third-set match at the fifth flight. The freshman took the first set from Jamie
Yates, 6-2, before falling in the next two, 6-3, 6-1.
O'Connell tied up the proceedings at No. 2 over Blanco.
Falling behind, 6-2, O'Connell pushed past the Spartan with a 6-3, 6-4
performance.
Unfortunately for the Blue Hose, Selander held off a
hard-charging Brigham in the No. 5 spot, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for the win.
The Blue Hose next head to Appalachian State for a Saturday
afternoon matchup at 1 p.m.
Singles competition
1. Matthias Kidler (UPSTM) def. MILLS, Grayson (PCM) 6-4,
6-0
2. O'CONNELL, William (PCM) def. Gonzalo Blanco (UPSTM) 2-6,
6-3, 6-4
3. BERGHAUS, Rafael (PCM) def. Yvon Haessig (UPSTM) 6-4, 7-5
4. Viktor Selander (UPSTM) def. BRIGHAM, Andrew (PCM) 6-4,
3-6, 6-3
5. Jamie Yates (UPSTM) def. BRUCE, Danny (PCM) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. ASIS, Gonzalo (PCM) def. Ramon Simonetti (UPSTM) 7-6
(8-6), 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Matthias Kidler/Viktor Selander (UPSTM) vs. BERGHAUS,
Rafael/MILLS, Grayson (PCM) 7-7, unfinished
2. Yvon Haessig/Gonzalo Blanco (UPSTM) def. BRIGHAM,
Andrew/O'CONNELL, William (PCM) 8-5
3. Jamie Yates/Jacob Darling (UPSTM) def. CROCKER,
Nathan/SNEAD, Edward (PCM) 8-6
