GREENSBORO N.C. – The UNCG men's tennis team earned the first victory of the 2016 spring season on Saturday afternoon inside the Piedmont Indoor tennis facility. The Spartans edged out the visiting UNC Asheville Bulldogs 4-3, with James Flynn earning the key victory.
"We had a great team win today!" Head coach Jeff Trivette said, "It's nice to start the spring with a victory. I am very proud of everybody for pulling together and beating a quality team like Ashevile."
UNCG failed to earn a victory in the doubles portion of the meet. The pair of William Albright (Greensboro, N.C./Grimsley) and Warren Bryan (Greensboro, N.C./Longwood/The Early College at Guilford) fell to Alex Croker and Brett Landau (7-6) in No. 1 doubles. Connor Thompson (Atlanta, Ga./Holy Innocents) and Daniel Mack (Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland) were defeated by Josh Swindler and Henry Patten in the No. 2 doubles (6-3). In the No. 3 doubles, Gaston Murray (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista) and Ian Melnik (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill) fell to Thomas Orestis-Panoulas and Olly Cull.
The Spartans earned took four of six singles matches in the victory. Thompson defeated Croker in the No. 1 singles event (6-3 and 6-4). In the No. 3 singles, Murray took down Patten in two sets, (6-4, 7-6) and Albright put the Spartans up 3-2 after defeating Swindler (6-4, 7-6) in the No. 4 singles.
Mack and Bryan each suffered a three-set defeat in the No. 2 and No. 5 singles events, setting up a winner-take-all match in the No. 6 singles. Flynn pulled through for the Spartans, defeating Cull in two sets (6-2, 6-4).
With the win, the UNCG Men's Tennis team improves to 1-0, while UNC Asheville falls to 0-1 on the young season.
Singles
1. Connor Thompson (UNCG) def. Alex Croker (AVL) 6-3, 6-4
2. Thomas Orestis-Pano (AVL) def. Daniel Mack (UNCG) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Gaston Murray (UNCG) def. Henry Patten (AVL) 6-4, 7-6
4. William Albright (UNCG) def. Josh Swindler (AVL) 6-4, 7-6
5. Brett Landau (AVL) def. Warren Bryan (UNCG) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
6. James Flynn (UNCG) def. Olly Cull (AVL) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
1. Alex Croker/Brett Landau (AVL) def. William Albright/Warren Bryan (UNCG) 7-6
2. Josh Swindler/Henry Patten (AVL) def. Connor Thompson/Daniel Mack (UNCG) 6-3
3. Thomas Orestis-Pano/Olly Cull (AVL) def. Gaston Murray/Ian Melnik (UNCG) 6-2
Match Notes:
UNC Asheville 0-1,
UNCG 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,3,4,2,5,6)
The Spartans return to action on February 6th as they take on the Davidson Wildcats at the UNCG Tennis Courts at 12:00 p.m.
-UNCG-
