SPARTANBURG, S.C.- The Wofford men’s tennis team wrapped up the No. 3 overall seen in the upcoming Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championships as they held off Samford 4-3 on senior day Saturday afternoon at the Reeves Tennis Center. The Terriers end the regular season at 13-10 overall and 7-3 in the Southern Conference which gives them their most wins in a season since going Division I as well as the most conference wins since joining the Southern Conference in 1995; the Bulldogs fall to 6-15-1 overall and 3-6-1 in the Southern Conference.

“Samford played very tough and I feel fortunate to have won this match,” noted head Coach Rod Ray. “Winning this match 4-3 was a total team effort with every single player making a contribution. I am particularly impressed with the toughness that Stuart showed as he was throwing up and sick to his stomach for most of the match and still tried to find a way to win.”

The Bulldogs came out shooting in doubles play and got out to early leads on all three courts. However, the Terriers stood their ground and battled back to take two of the three matches to secure the doubles point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. Scott Collins, a senior playing in his last regular season match as a Terrier, teamed with Tinus van Wyk on court No. 3 to defeat Richard Walsh and Carson Kadi 8-4. The Bulldogs took the win on court No. 2 as Oliver Reynolds and Carl Abalos took down Alan Donald and Paul Bartholomy 8-4. On court No. 1, Stuart Robertson and Danny Manlow broke serve at six all to take a 7-6 advantage. Manlow then held serve to give the duo an 8-6 win over Kelwin DeWet and Brian Dushock.

In singles play, Samford made things very difficult for the Terriers but Wofford was able to prevail by splitting the six singles matches. Manlow rolled on court No. 2 as he downed DeWet 6-2, 6-2. Bartholomy used a service break in each set to defeat Abalos on court No. 6, 6-3, 6-3. The third and final singles point came from Donald on court No. 5 where he defeated Oliver 6-4, 7-6. Robertson came very close to pulling out a victory on court No. 1 but came up short as he was battling sickness falling to Walsh, 6-2, 2-6 and 6-4. Also playing in his last singles match of the regular season for Wofford, Collins gave a valiant effort but came up on the losing end to Dushock in three sets by scores of 4-6, 6-2, and 6-2 on court No. 4.

“Today was also a special day as it was Sr. Captain Scott Collins final home match. Scott has shown a tremendous amount of courage during his four year career and it has been a great honor to have coached him. He has been a guy that has shown up and worked hard every day,” stated Ray.

The Terriers will now enter the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed and will take on the winner of No. 11 Chattanooga vs. No. 6 College of Charleston. The match will take place on Friday April 24, 2009 at the Burlington Tennis Center at 1 p.m.