Box Score (PDF)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s tennis team fell to Appalachian State in a 4-3 heartbreaker Saturday afternoon in their regular season finale.  All six singles match-ups went to three sets.
 
The Terriers fall to 3-14 overall and 1-9 in the Southern Conference, while the Mountaineers improve to 6-14 and 3-7 in conference play.  Before the match, Wofford honored seniors Drew Superstein and Tom Wood for their contribution to the men’s tennis program over the past four years.
 
In doubles action, the Terriers won all three match-up to claim the doubles point.  First, Jackson Keith and Tom Wood cruised past Steve Lake and Steve Karendal, 8-3, in the No. 3 position.  Next at the No. 2 spot, David Sklar and Parks Thompson outfought Andrew McKinnon and Jan-Willem Kleynhans, 8-6.  Then, Rob Galloway and Walker Heffron defeated Zach Bost and Sebastien King, 8-6, at No. 1.
 
On the singles side, Wofford extended their lead to 2-0 after a three set victory by Galloway over Karendal (6-3, 3-6, 6-3) at the No. 1 position.  Appalachian State cut the lead to one after a hard fought win by Kleynhans over Graham Duncan.  Duncan dropped the first set 6-1, but he came back to win the second 6-2.  The third set was very close and had to be decided by a tie-break.  In the tie-break, Kleynhans got the better of Duncan, 9-7, to bring the Mountaineers within one.
 
The Terriers extended their lead to 3-1 after a come from behind victory by Drew Superstein over King.  King claimed the first set 6-1, but Superstein roared back to win the second 7-5.  Then in the third set, Superstein maintained his momentum to win 6-3. 
 
Appalachian State won the next two matches to tie the score at three.  First, Bost topped Keith (6-4, 2-6, 6-1) in the No. 3 spot.  Then, McKinnon bested Heffron (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) at the No. 4 position.  The overall result was decided by the day’s final match-up.  At No. 5, Wofford’s Wood and Appalachian State’s Matt Saltsgaver battled for over three hours.  In a marathon first set, Saltsgaver outlasted Wood 13-11 in a tie-break to take the lead.  However, Wood stormed back to win the second set 6-2. 
 
In the decisive set, neither player was able to build a lead bigger than one game.  First Wood led 1-0, then 3-2, but Saltsgaver tied the match at three, four, and then took the lead 4-3.  Wood rallied again take a 5-4 edge, but could not close out the match.  Then tied at six, both players prepared for a tie-break to decide the match.  In the tie-break, Saltsgaver built an early lead that Wood was unable to overcome.  Saltsgaver escaped with the win (7-6 (13-11), 2-6, 7-6 (7-3)) and secured the team result for the Mountaineers.
 
The Terriers will return to the court on Thursday, April 18, when they travel to Elon, N.C. for the 2013 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament.  Wofford will face Davidson at 1:00 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.