BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Ross Gilbert won a tightly-contested 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3) clash against fellow fourth-seed Ian Melnik to help Gardner-Webb clinch a 4-3 victory over UNCG in men's tennis action on Monday, Feb. 25.

The Spartans (1-4) grabbed the first win of the match when the tandem of Hugh Knapp / Jack Burkill emerged with a 6-4 win in doubles play over Sebastian Harris / Bonaventura Durall. However, the 48th-ranked pair of Maximilian Scholl / Millen Hurrion answered with a 6-4 victory against Melnik / Roger Rogowski in the meeting of No. 1 doubles. That was followed by a 7-5 triumph by the Runnin' Bulldogs pair of Stefano Puga / Breno Plentz over Noco Grewe / Eric Whisnant.

Scholl pushed the Gardner-Webb lead to 2-0 following a 6-3, 6-1 win against Grewe in singles play. Rogowski notched the first point of the match for UNCG as he claimed a 6-3, 6-3 win over Plentz in the battle of No. 3 seeds.

Hurrion, who is ranked No. 98 nationally in singles, extended the Gardner-Webb lead back to two points (3-1) following a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Knapp. Burkill regained the point for the Spartans with a 6-3, 7-5 win against Joahn Fors in a meeting of fifth-seeded players.

It was there that Gilbert clinched the match by downing Melnik, but UNCG ended the day on a positive note as Cooper Wyett came away with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Durall.

UNCG returns to action on Friday, March 1, when they head to Rock Hill, S.C., to square off against Winthrop at 2 p.m.