SAC Tennis Championship Quarterfinal Recaps

[MEN'S QUARTERFINALS]

No. 3 Wingate 5, No. 6 Mars Hill 0

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The third-seeded Wingate University to a 6-0 win past No. 6 seeded Mars Hill in quarterfinal action of the 2013 Food Lion Men's South Atlantic Conference Championship Thursday afternoon at the Rock Hill Tennis Complex.

Wingate, the defending tourney champions, snapped a two-match skid with the win and improved to 15-10 overall and will advance to meet No. 2 seed Tusculum on Friday at 8 a.m., while Mars Hill's season ended at 4-9.

The duo of Neal Towlson and Roberto Hennis edged the Lions' tandem of Lucas Simm and Euquerio Guerrero, 9-7, at the No.1 doubles flight, while Kennedy Cancelado and Ryan Forbes defeated Joel Sturgis and Michael Melvill, 8-2, at the No. 2 slot. Sebastian Hall and Josh Eardley teamed up to down Sam Lee and Zach High, 8-1, to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead following doubles' action.

Hall claimed a 6-0, 6-1, win past Melvill at the No. 3 singles' slot, while Hennis improved to 8-3 in his last 11 matches with a straight-set, 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles to clinch the match.

No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 5, No. 5 Newberry 3

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial claimed two wins on the doubles side and the momentum carried the Railsplitters to a 5-3 win past No. 5 seeded Newberry in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Food Lion Men's South Atlantic Conference Championship Thursday afternoon at the Rock Hill Tennis Complex.

Second-team all-SAC honoree Marcelo Alvim paced Lincoln Memorial (12-5) with two wins, as the Railsplitters advance to meet top-seeded Anderson on Friday at 8 a.m., while Newberry's season came to a close with a 13-9 mark.

First-Team All-SAC selection Philipp Hoffman teamed up with Alexey Minevskiy to defeat Newberry's Michael Sanders and Vinicius Botelho, 8-3 at the No. 1 doubles' flight, while Alvim and Will Sparks topped the Wolves' Carlos Nicolopulos and Cal Loveridge, 8-2, to give LMU a 2-1 edge heading into singles action.

Alvim blanked Nicolopulos, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3 singles, while Gabriel Martins defeated Lovedridge, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 5 flight to boost LMU's advantage to 4-1. But Newberry's Vinicius Botelho, a second-team all-conference selection, followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles and the Wolves' Fernando Espana earned a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles to pull Newberry within 4-3, but LMU's Guilherme Rocha clinched the win for LMU with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 6.

[WOMEN'S QUARTERFINALS]

No. 5 Newberry 5, No. 4 Catawba 2

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Fifth-seeded Newberry (14-10) advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Championship after downing Catawba (14-9) by a 5-2 score in the quarterfinal round on Thursday afternoon at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. The Indians were the fourth seed in this year's tournament.

On Friday afternoon, Newberry will face top-seeded Wingate (17-5) beginning at Noon.

The Wolves took control early and won two of the three doubles matches.

In singles play, Newberry's Susana Aguirre rallied to defeat Catawba's Liz Renteria at No. 1 by a score of 4-6, 6-1 and 6-2 to claim the win for the Wolves. Aguirre and Romina Adum were both victorious at singles and doubles play to lead Newberry into the semifinals. Adum defeated Catawba's Sloan Kessler at second singles, 6-0 and 6-1.

The Indians' Lauren Sledd was credited with wins at third singles and second doubles despite the loss.

No. 3 Anderson 5, No. 6 Lincoln Memorial 0

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The third-seeded Anderson University women's tennis team shut out sixth-seeded Lincoln Memorial, 5-0, in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Championship Thursday afternoon at the Rock Hill Tennis Center.

Anderson improved to 12-5 overall with its third consecutive victory and will face second seeded Tusculum in the tourney semifinals Friday morning at 8 a.m.

Lincoln Memorial saw its season end with record of 6-10.

The Anderson tandem of Lauren Trumbull and Alexandra Ebner won their third consecutive match and gave the Trojans aan early 1-0 edge by defeating LMU's Summer Robinson and Jessica Baker, 8-3, at the No. 3 doubles' flight. AU's Camie Beaulieu-Brunet and Lindsay Gregory held off LMU's Aura Penalosa and Alexandra Granger, 8-4, at the No. two doubles' flight and the Trojan duo of Karen Ching and Avery Owens improved to 12-1 on the season after rallying to defeat Leah Donoff and Elena Vasilyeva, 8-6, at the No. 1 slot.

Gregory claimed her second win of the afternoon by downing Baker, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 5 and Beaulieu-Brunet won a straight-set, 6-4, 6-0 decision past Granger at the No. 5 flight to clinch the team victory.