CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The UNCG men's tennis team advances to the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals with a 4-0 victory against Georgia Southern Thursday afternoon at the Champions Club.

The Spartans improve to 14-6 on the season while Georgia Southern falls to 5-16. It marks the first time since 2010 that UNCG has made the semifinals after winning the 2010 SoCon Championship.

UNCG took a 1-0 lead in the match after winning the first two doubles matches. Sophomore James Dougherty (Melbourne, Australia) and senior Ahmet Sarioglu (Ankera, Turkey/METU Development Foundation) defeated Kyle Hoffman and Oliver Webb, 8-3 at No. 1 doubles. Freshman Nazhone Wilkins (Burnsville, Minn./Homeschooled) and junior Randy Phillips (Snellville, Ga./Brookwood) clinched the point with an 8-4 victory against Nico DeGroof and Marco Osorio at No. 2 doubles. Sophomore Daniel Mack (Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland) and junior Cameron Smith (Jamestown, N.C./Ragsdale) were trailing 5-3 against Christian Kerrigan and Albert Codina Sala when the point was decided.

In singles, Phillips won in straight sets against Hoffman, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles to make it 2-0 Spartans. Mack took down Nico DeGroof, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.

With the Blue and Gold leading 3-0, Smith easily defeated Kerrigan, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 singles to clinch the match.

Murray and Codina Sala went unfinished as Murray was down 1-6 and tied 3-3 in the second set. Dougherty dropped the first set 6-1 before leading 5-3 when the match was decided. Sarioglu had won the first set 6-3 against Webb and was leading 4-1 before it was called.

UNCG heads to the semifinals Friday, April 18 against No. 2 seed Furman at 10 a.m. at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Follow all the action about the 2013-14 UNCG men's tennis team on www.UNCGSpartans.com or on twitter @UNCGMTennis. 

-UNCG-