Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The men’s tennis team battled to an exhilarating finish against the Davidson Wildcats, holding on to a 4-3 finish in a crucial Southern Conference match-up. Wofford’s Drew Superstein sealed the final singles win for the Terriers after taking his match to three sets and winning in dramatic fashion, beating his opposition in a tie-breaker in the third set.
Wofford improves to a 7-8 record on the season and moves to a 3-2 standing in the Southern Conference. Davidson drops to 4-14 overall and 0-5 in the Southern Conference with the loss.
The Terriers’ one win in doubles came from senior duo Alan Donald and Paul Bartholomy. The pair faced Davidson’s Ethan Kallick and Walker Lyons at the No. 2 position and won in a tie-breaker 8-7 (3). The Wildcats took advantage of the other two doubles contests, beating our No. 1 and 3, 8-3, in both matches.
After taking the 1-0 lead in doubles play, Davidson extended their lead with a win at the No. 3 singles spot. Wofford’s Stuart Robertson lost to Chris Mark 6-2, 6-3 at the third slot.
Despite the 2-0 disadvantage, Wofford grabbed the momentum back after winning the next three singles matches straight. Wofford’s three senior captains, Alan Donald, Paul Bartholomy and Michael Schecter demonstrated leadership and poise to help put their team back in the contest with straight-set wins in each singles match. Donald scored Wofford’s first point after defeating Arie Hefter 6-3, 7-5 at the No. 4 position. Donald currently leads the team in singles wins with nine.
Bartholomy was next to finish, pushing past Davidson’s Kevin Moore 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 and Schecter posted the Terriers’ third point with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Davidson’s Calum Gee.
With the score 3-2, Wofford had the opportunity to seal the match with wins from either Tinus Van Wyk or Drew Superstein. Van Wyk had won the first set 6-2 and lost the second set 6-3 and was going into the third set, while Superstein had won the first set 6-4 and lost the second set 6-4 and was also going into the final set.
Van Wyk took his last set to the edge, only allowing Davidson’s Joe Schafer a narrow 7-5 win. With the match left in Superstein’s hands, his third set was at a 5-5 score. After splitting the next two games, the match came to a tie-breaker. Superstein swept the first six tie-breaker points and finally ended the match, finishing the third set at 7-6 (7-3).
“This was a very close match between two very competitive teams,” remarked Coach Ray after the extremely close finish. “Both teams showed great courage down the stretch and we happened to come out on top. I am especially proud of how we jumped out to a great start after losing the doubles point.”
The Terriers next match will take place tomorrow, March 30th, against the Furman Paladins. The match is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. in Reeves Tennis Center.
