Eagles Fall To Phoenix, 4-2, In Second Round Of SoCon Tournament
4/18/2008 4:17:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Georgia Southern men's tennis team suffered a tough loss in the second round of the Southern Conference Championships Friday afternoon. The seventh-seeded Eagles put up a close fight against the second-seeded Elon Phoenix, but fell 4-2. Georgia Southern wrapped up the 2008 season with a 9-13 overall record, 4-5 in conference play and 1-1 in tournament play. Meanwhile, Elon earned a spot in Saturday's quarterfinals.
The Phoenix gained a 1-0 advantage heading into singles action with a doubles point capture. Wins at the one and three seeds secured the advantage for Elon. The Phoenix took an 8-3 win over Joris De Weerdt and Borja Malet at one, and an 8-4 decision at the three over Emmanuel Nkoueleue and Matthew Sands.
A victory from Sands at the six seed quickly evened the playing field in singles action. Sands defeated Chase Helpingstine in a 7-6, 6-2 fashion. Rebounding from a previous regular season singles loss to Oscar Podlewski, De Weerdt handled Podlewski this time at the two seed. De Weerdt ousted his opponent in straight 6-4 sets to notch the Eagles' second team point. Despite the pressure and pushing two matches into third sets by the Eagles, Elon came out on top. Wins at the one, four and five seeds, plus the doubles point, secured the 4-2 victory for Elon.
The Eagles conclude the 2008 season with a 9-13 overall record, surpassing last year's record tremendously, proving to be one of the best records in the program's recent history.
No. 2 Elon 4, No. 7 Georgia Southern 2
Doubles:
1. Damon Gooch/Philip Nemec (Elon) def Joris De Weerdt/Borja Malet (GSU) 8-3
2. Did not finish
3. Oscar Podlewski/Chase Helpingstine (Elon) def Emmanuel Nkoueleue/Matthew Sands (GSU) 8-4
Singles:
1. Damon Gooch (Elon) def Emmanuel Nkoueleue (GSU) 6-1,3-6,6-3
2. Joris De Weerdt (GSU) def Oscar Podlewski (Elon) 6-4,6-4
3. Borja Malet (GSU) vs. Mason Schermerhorn (Elon) DNF
4. Alberto Rojas (Elon) def Gregory Bekkers (GSU) 6-4,6-2
5. Philip Nemec (Elon) def Philip Prins (GSU) 6-2,4-6,6-1
6. Matthew Sands (GSU) def Chase Helpingstine (Elon) 7-6,6-2
