Sumter, S.C. - In the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference tournament, the 25th-ranked Lincoln Memorial men's tennis team fell to the second-seeded Wingate Bulldogs, as the 19th-ranked team in the nation came away with a tight 4-2 win over the Railsplitters.
With the loss, the Railsplitters moved to 15-10 on the season while going 8-3 in games against conference opponents, while holding Wingate to their tightest margin since the start of the month
The Railsplitters did pick up one win in doubles play, as the teams third pairing of Jakub Hrasek and Radu Florea ran away with a win. The match was all LMU, as Wingate had no answer for the Splitters duo who earned their second win together with a 6-0 sweep of Wingate, giving Florea his second win of the season in doubles play for Wingate.
Florea would even the score at 1-1 on the singles court, as in the third singles match the junior allowed just one point all day for a clean sweep of his opponent. The day started all Florea, as he jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set before Wingate could get a single point. After that, it was lights out for the Bulldogs, as Florea went on a 9-0 run, taking the first set 6-1 before sweeping the second set 6-0 to bring LMU even with Wingate.
LMU would force the match within a point late, as First-Team All-SAC Singles honoree Alexandru Rares Giurea battled in the top singles position to secure a two-sets win. The first set started rough for Giurea, as his opponent opened by turning a 2-0 lead into a 3-1 advantage early. A first mid-set rally proved no benefit, as the Splitters found themselves trailing 4-2. Giurea then went on a tear, drawing the match even at four all before continuing to alternate points, going down 6-5. With Wingate at set point, Giurea fought back to draw the set even at 6-6, and then ran away with the tiebreaking point, taking the final point 7-0 and winning the set 7-6.
The second set would prove to be faster for Giurea, as a quick lead of 2-0 would be all the senior needed, running away late for a 6-1 win, and putting LMU back just 3-2 before Wingate clinched the final point.
LMU entered the SAC Tournament appearing in the first Southeast Regional Rankings, and will await their postseason fate in the NCAA Division II men's tennis tournament selection show, which will take place on Monday, May 4th at 8:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles:
#1: Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta/Victor Bourguignon vs Carlo Rosellini/Rodrigo De La Torre: 3-6
#2: Alexandru Rares Giurea/Mathis Amsellem vs Riku Ogasawara/Martino Colabella: 2-6
#3: Jakub Hrasek/Radu Florea vs Emil Remsted/Jashan Joachim: 6-0
Singles:
#1: Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Carlo Rosellini: 7-6 (7-0), 6-1
#2: Mathis Amsellem vs Rodrigo De La Torre: 4-6, 2-6
#3: Radu Florea vs Riku Ogasawara: 6-1, 6-0
#4: Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta vs Emil Remsted: 2-6, 6-4, 2-6
#5: Victor Bourguignon vs Martino Colabella: 4-6, 4-6
#6: Jakub Hrasek vs Jashan Joachim: 3-6, 6-3, 4-5 (UF)
