CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's tennis team won its sixth straight match and improved to 4-0 in the Big South Conference with a home league win over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, 5-2.
PC improves to 19-3 overall with its perfect conference start intact and will next head to Campbell for a Saturday match at 1 p.m. Gardner-Webb falls to 7-10, 0-3 in the Big South and host Appalachian State on Friday at 2 p.m.
The Blue Hose took the doubles point and won four singles matches for the win.
In doubles play, Diego Manzanas (Madrid, Spain) and Grayson Mills (Lilburn, Ga.) improved to 9-0 at the No. 3 spot with an 8-3 victory over Tyler Macy and Brendan Dempsey. PC sewed up the doubles point with a top-flight win as Rafael Berghaus (Offenbach, Germany) and Joel Roberts (Summerville, S.C.) bested Nikita Zverkov and Ernest Alberch, 8-6.
Gardner-Webb's doubles win came in a close match at the second flight when Benjamin Kaszas and Pepe Batalla edged Ryan Miller (Norcross, Ga.) and Ben Kelley (Weaverville, N.C.), 8-7.
The Runnin' Bulldogs evened the dual match by taking the first singles win of the day as Dempsey won over Kelley at the fourth flight, 6-2, 6-2. Manzanas then pushed PC back in the lead from the No. 6 spot by rolling past Batalla, 6-3, 6-3.
No. 1 player Mills grabbed his 16th singles win of the season—all at the top flight—by taking down Kaszas in a 6-2, 6-3 result. Berghaus then sealed the win for PC from the second flight by gutting out a three-set victory over Zverkov, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0.
The Runnin' Bulldogs earned another win at No. 3 when Alberch squeezed by Miller in a 7-6, 7-6 decision. The freshman Roberts then put a bow on PC's win at the fifth flight with a tiebreaker victory, 3-6, 7-6, 11-9.
Singles competition
1. MILLS, Grayson (PCM) def. Benjamin Kaszas (GWU) 6-2, 6-3
2. BERGHAUS, Rafael (PCM) def. Nikita Zverkov (GWU) 6-7, 6-3, 6-0
3. Ernest Alberch (GWU) def. MILLER, Ryan (PCM) 7-6, 7-6
4. Brendan Dempsey (GWU) def. KELLEY, Ben (PCM) 6-2, 6-2
5. ROBERTS, Joel (PCM) def. Jonathan Walker (GWU) 3-6, 7-6, 11-9
6. MANZANAS, Diego (PCM) def. Pepe Batalla (GWU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. BERGHAUS, Rafael/ROBERTS, Joel (PCM) def. Nikita Zverkov/Ernest Alberch (GWU) 8-6
2. Benjamin Kaszas/Pepe Batalla (GWU) def. MILLER, Ryan/KELLEY, Ben (PCM) 8-7
3. MANZANAS, Diego/MILLS, Grayson (PCM) def. Tyler Macy/Brendan Dempsey (GWU) 8-3
