SAC Men’s Tennis Championship Quarterfinal Recaps

ROCK HILL, S.C.- Lincoln Memorial University swept the doubles and claimed singles victories on courts one and five to take a 5-0 victory over Catawba College in the quarter-finals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's tennis tournament Thursday at the Rock Hill Tennis Center.

The number three seed Railsplitters (17-3 overall) will advance to play number two seed Anderson (S.C.) Friday at 1 p.m. Number six seed Catawba concludes the 2012 season 17-9 overall.

LMU senior Tom Goossens (Moerbeke-Waas, Belgium) clinched the victory for the Railsplitters with a 6-0, 7-6 (5) decision over Catawba senior Uri Yarkoni (Kelowna, B.C.) at the number five singles flight. Junior Philipp Hoffmann (Karlsruhe, Germany) gave LMU a 4-0 margin with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Catawba junior Alex Macdonald (Lowen Hutt, New Zealand) in the number one singles contest.

Hoffmann and Goossens completed the doubles sweep for the 'Splitters, as they edged Yarkoni and senior Thomas Mitchell (Nanaimo, B.C.) 9-8 (5) in the number one doubles match. LMU freshman Will Sparks (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore Marcelo Alvim (Sao Paulo, Brazil) survived a nail-biter at the number two flight, outlasting Macdonald and sophomore Matthew Nicholson (Chawara, Zimbabwe) 9-7. Lincoln Memorial earned an 8-1 victory at the number three doubles flight.

During the regular season, Anderson claimed a 6-3 home victory over Lincoln Memorial. The visiting Railsplitters led 2-1 after doubles, but the host Trojans won flights two through six to take the victory. Hoffmann defeated AU senior Stan Atema (Marabella, Spain) in straight sets for for LMU's only singles triumph.

TUSCULUM RALLIES FOR 5-4 SAC VICTORY OVER NEWBERRY

Rock Hill , S.C.---- The Tusculum College men's tennis team rallied from a 4-2 deficit to take a 5-4 quarter-final victory over Newberry College Thursday in the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. Freshman Stefan Vergeer (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) clinched the victory for the Pioneers with his 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Newberry sophomore David Sons (Lexington, S.C.).

The number four seed TC Pioneers improve to 12-9 overall, while Newberry concludes the 2012 campaign 13-12 overall. Tusculum will face number one seed Wingate in Friday's 1 p.m. semi-final match.

Newberry sophomore Mohammed Chakir (Rabat, Morocco) gave the Wolves a 4-2 advantage when he defeated Tusculum junior Luis Zamora (Santiago, Chile) 6-3, 6-1 at the number three singles flight. Pioneer freshman Paul Wiederspahn (Wuppertal, Germany) started the TC rally with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Newberry junior Cal Loveridge (Derby, Derbyshire, England) on court number four.

SAC Freshman of the Year Lukas Winkelmann (Boeblingen, Germany) tied the match 4-4 when he topped Newberry sophomore Michael Saunders (Christchurch, New Zealand) 6-1, 6-4 at the number singles flight. Saunders had helped the Wolves tie the match 1-1 when he teamed with classmate Vinicius Botelho (Fortzleza, Brazil) to defeat Winkelmann and Zamora 8-5 in the number one doubles contest.

Wiederspahn and senior Steven Lin (Ping Dong, Taiwan) struck first for the Pioneers, blanking Chakir and Sons 8-0 at the number two doubles flight. Lin copied his teammate, as he also earned a 6-1, 6-0 singles victory over Newberry freshman Carlos Nicolopulos (Valencia, Venezuela) on court number five.

Botelho was the only double winner for Newberry, as he defeated Tusculum sophomore Tony Bujana (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) 6-0, 6-2 at the number two singles position. Botelho's victory gave the Wolves a 3-2 lead.