Jadeja Shines as Eagles Fall to Elon
Despite a hard fought doubles point on all three courts, Elon won the early advantage. The Phoenix walked away with a quick win at the one seed, but courts two and three battled it out to the end. Jayraj Jadeja and Mark Paetz kept a consistent one game lead to 4-3 when Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell took the next two points for a 5-4 Elon advantage at No. 3. Elon closed out the win by an 8-5 decision securing the early advantage for the Phoenix. Court two found themselves tied at 4-all before Elon held serve and broke the Eagles for a 6-4 lead. The Eagles and Phoenix traded points for a 7-5 game when Elon served out the match at 40-0 to complete the sweep.
Fueled by the pace of doubles action, the Phoenix took five of six singles matches for a 6-1 win. Elon pushed the score to 2-0 with a quick decision at the six seed before Jadeja recorded the Eagles’ lone point. The junior from Hayes, England handed Philip Nemec only his fourth loss and first conference loss - of the dual season with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 mark at the two position. Jadeja’s win snapped an eight-match win streak Nemec has held since February 15, which included four conference matches.
Elon captured a straight set win at five before Rojas clinched the conference win at the four seed. Alain Garrido won the first set over Rojas who took the second at 7-5. Garrido was then forced to retire in the third set, securing the win for Elon.
Georgia Southern dropped opening sets at one and three, but Eagles De Weerdt and Bekkers rallied back to take second sets. Bekkers held strong in the third, but fell 6-3 as De Weerdt fought off match points in a super tiebreak against Damon Gooch. The match tiebreak fell in favor of Gooch, 11-9.
“We need to hold serve more often after breaks of serve which was a big key in the match,” said head coach Justin Miles. “I was very proud of Jayraj [Jadeja] who played very well in singles today. He played with a lot positive energy.”
Georgia Southern takes a short break from action and will return to the Hanner Tennis Complex on April 4 when they play host to The Citadel in an 11 a.m. match.
Elon 6, Georgia Southern 1
Doubles:
1. Damon Gooch/Philip Nemec (EU) d. Matthew Sands/Philip Prins (GSU) 8-2
2. Carlin Murray/Chase Helpingstine (EU) d. Gregory Bekkers/Joris De Weerdt (GSU) 8-5
3. Alberto Rojas/Cody Stauffer-MacDowell (EU) d. Jayraj Jadeja/Mark Paetz (GSU) 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. Damon Gooch (EU) d. Joris De Weerdt (GSU) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (9)
2. Jayraj Jadeja (GSU) d. Philip Nemec (EU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Chase Helpingstine (EU) d. Gregory Bekkers (GSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4. Alberto Rojas (EU) d. Alain Garrido (GSU) 3-6, 7-5, 5-2 ret*
5. Carlin Murray (EU) d. Edio Castanhel (GSU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Cody Stauffer-MacDowell (EU) d. Matthew Sands (GSU) 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 2, 5, 4, 3, 1
*Clinched the match
- Category: Men's Tennis
- Published on Tuesday, 24 March 2009 00:11
