HARROGATE, Tenn. – Doubles play proved to be the deciding factor as the Railsplitters (6-4, 5-2 SAC) built an early 3-0 advantage and rolled to their third consecutive South Atlantic Conference victory with a 6-3 win over the Mars Hill Lions (7-6, 3-5 SAC) on Wednesday at the LMU Tennis Complex.
 
Joshua Coulthard (Staindrop, England) and Will Sparks (Knoxville, Tenn.) played the only tightly contested doubles match, battling the Lions' top tandem of Euquerio Guerrero and Alberto Ortiz in a 9-7 win at the No. 1 flight.
 
The Railsplitters would cruise through doubles action from there as Pepe Batalla (Barcelona, Spain) and Joshua Peress (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) dominated Sam Lee and Markus Gattner 8-2 in the second flight, while Carlos Riesco and Blake Covington proved to be no match for Stefan Hall (Stratford, PEI) and Carlos Zunino (Samborondon, Ecuador) in an 8-3 loss in the third and final flight.
 
Mars Hill pulled within one point of the Railsplitters at the start of singles play as Guerrero rolled though Coulthard 6-1, 6-2 in the top singles flight, while Sparks fell to Ortiz in the second flight.
 
Batalla and Peress picked up their teammates and iced the victory for the second straight match at No. 3 and No. 4 singles as Batalla rolled Gattner 6-4, 6-2, while Peress extended his winning streak to six in a dominant win over Riesco 6-1, 6-1.
 
Following a loss by Guilherme Rocha (Victoria, Brazil) at No. 5 singles, Zunino made it three straight wins by handing Covington a 6-1, 6-1 loss.
 
With just four SAC series left on the schedule, the Railsplitters' win on Wednesday inched them closer to a postseason berth as they are in sole possession of fifth place in the league standings with wins in five of their last six league matches.
 
Lincoln Memorial is set to travel to Tusculum on Thursday for a SAC bout, with doubles action set to get underway at 2 p.m.

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Lincoln Memorial 6, Mars Hill 3
Apr 01, 2015 at Harrogate, TN (LMU Tennis Complex)

Singles Competition 1. Euquerio Guerrero (MHUM) def. Joshua Coulthard (LMU) 6-1, 6-2

2. Alberto Ortiz (MHUM) def. Will Sparks (LMU) 8-6

3. Pepe Batalla (LMU) def. Markus Gattner (MHUM) 6-4, 6-2

4. Joshua Peress (LMU) def. Carlos Suares Riesco (MHUM) 6-1, 6-1

5. Sam Lee (MHUM) def. Guilherme Rocha (LMU) 8-2

6. Carlos Zunino (LMU) def. Blake Covington (MHUM) 6-1, 6-1

 

Doubles Compeition 1. Joshua Coulthard/Will Sparks (LMU) def. Euquerio Guerrero/Alberto Ortiz (MHUM) 9-7

2. Pepe Batalla/Joshua Peress (LMU) def. Sam Lee/Markus Gattner (MHUM) 8-2

3. Stefan Hall/Carlos Zunino (LMU) def. Carlos Suares Riesco/Blake Covington (MHUM) 8-3

 

Match Notes Mars Hill 7-6, 3-5 SAC

Lincoln Memorial 6-4, 5-2 SAC