MACON, Ga. – The Wofford men's tennis team advances to the semifinals of the 2019 Southern Conference Men's Tennis Championship after outlasting No. 5 seed Samford, 4-3, behind clutch three-set victories from sophomore Omar Williams and junior Julian Chousa. The Terriers secured doubles, courtesy of wins from Williams and Chousa and Javi Casasolas and Bryce Keim, while sophomore Edu Villar also added a singles win for Wofford on the day. The Terriers will now go on to face top-seeded ETSU tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center.
 
Chousa and Williams not only finished in winning fashion, but kicked off the match earning the first doubles win on the No. 1 court with a 6-3 decision over Sami Kirberg and Jack Lyttle for their third victory of the year.
 
Keim and Casasolas then continued their hot streak, winning their fifth consecutive doubles match, with a 6-4 finish over Aleksandar Petrovic and Max Rebol in No. 2 doubles to grant Wofford the doubles point.
 
Singles would prove to be extremely competitive, as four of the six matches were pushed into three-set tiebreakers.
 
Junior Lucas Cerbelli played tough against Rebol on the No. 4 court, falling to a tiebreak in the first set before dropping the second, 6-2, to tie the match at 1-1. Edu Villar answered for the Terriers in No. 3 singles, defeating Petrovic in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3, to reclaim the lead and add his eighth win on the year.
 
Senior Kyle Barr competed in the No. 6 position for the Terriers, bouncing back in the second set (6-2) against Jack Lyttle after dropping the first. Lyttle would however take the tiebreak set, 6-3, to knot the match up again at 2-2. Javi Casasolas battled hard in No. 5 singles against Ali  Bellalouna, but unfortunately fell in three sets after taking the first, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, to give Samford a 3-2 lead with two matches remaining.
 
After dropping his first set, Omar Williams challenged Daniel Orlita in No. 2 singles to a third set with a 7-5 decision in the second. With the match potentially on the line, Williams then took control to earn a 6-3 finish in the third set to tie the match up, 3-3.
 
Also in three sets as Williams' match finished up, Wofford's fate would lie in the hands of Julian Chousa on the No. 1 court. Chousa took the first set (6-2), though, Samford's Rossouw Norval returned the favor in the second to force a tiebreaker set. Chousa and Norval then went blow for blow in the third before Chousa would survive a tiebreak ending, 7-6 (7-5), to keep the Terriers' season alive with a 4-3 finish.