ANDERSON, S.C. - The regular season continues to wind down for Anderson University men's and women's tennis, as the Trojans are scheduled for three matches in three days this week beginning on Tuesday with a trip to Emmanuel (2 p.m.), followed by the teams' final home conference match with Lenoir-Rhyne (3 p.m.) on Wednesday and concluding with a road contest at USC Aiken at 2 p.m.
The Trojans
On the men's side, AU saw its brief two-match winning streak
snapped by Wingate with a 7-2 setback last Wednesday. With the
loss, the Trojans fell to 11-3 on the season with an 8-2 mark in
league play as they sit in third place in the SAC standings and a
half-game behind the first-place deadlock between Wingate and
Tusculum.
Three different Trojans have 10 singles wins on the season, as junior Inaki Iriberry joins the sophomore tandem of Juan Carracedo and Mateo Rivas with identical 10-4 records. Carracedo was the lone Anderson player to record a singles win in the setback to the Bulldogs, as he tallied a 6-4, 7-6 win over Neal Towlson at the No. 1 position.
In doubles, Iriberry and classmate Paul Michael Calhoun pace the team with a 7-3 record while playing at the No. 3 slot with a 7-3 record. The pair is 6-3 against conference opponents on the season.
For the women's team, the Trojans also snapped a two-match winning streak against Wingate on Wednesday with a 6-3 setback. The lone bright spot for AU against the 'Dogs was at the top of the lineup, as freshman Ivey Welborn and sophomore Rebecca Bruning went 2-0 with their doubles win at the No. 1 position, followed by a pair of singles wins, respectively.
For Bruning, the singles win was her 14th of the season, as she moves to 10-2 while at the No. 2 slot and 9-1 against conference opponents. Welborn notched her seventh singles victory of the season and improves to 7-4 for the season with a 5-3 record against the SAC. In addition to Bruning's 14 wins, teammates Lindsay Gregory and Alexandra Ebner also post double-figure singles wins on the year with 11 and 10, respectively.
In doubles, Welborn and Bruning lead the team with a 10-3
record, headlined by a 7-2 mark against the conference, as all of
their wins have come from the No. 1 slot.
The Lions
The men's team is currently on a seven-match setback streak and
come into Tuesday match with a 1-12 overall record with a 1-6 mark
in Conference Carolinas. Most recently, the Lions suffered an 8-1
setback to Young Harris last Saturday after dropping a pair of
conference matches to Erskine and Lees-McRae by identical 5-4
scores.
On the women's side, Emmanuel continues to search for its first victory of the season, coming into Tuesday's match with a 0-13 record. Within the winless record, the Lions have been shut out in their last eight matches.
The Bears
The Lenoir-Rhyne men's team is 8-10 for the season, but has
struggled within the SAC this season with a 1-5 mark. With a pair
of conference matches pending on Monday and Tuesday, the Bears have
dropped three of their last four with their lone victory coming
over Catawba, 7-2. Three L-R players tie for the team-lead in wins
with 12, as Marvin Mueller leads the way with 11 triumphs at the
No. 1 position. Joining Mueller is Robin Hochguertel with an 11-4
mark at No. 2, while Patrick Bauer is 11-6 at the No. 3 position
for the season.
In doubles, Hochguertel and teammate John Christian Reid paces the club with 12 wins with all the victories coming at the No. 3 spot.
On the women's side, the Bears are 8-9 on the season with a 3-3 record within the SAC. Also set to play conference matches on Monday and Tuesday this week, Lenoir-Rhyne suffered setbacks in its last two contests to Charlotte (7-0) and Newberry (6-3).
The tandem of Lela Sparks Thompson and Dominique Bruce lead the way in singles wins on the season with nine apiece. The pair holds matching 5-1 records in conference singles matches, while Sparks Thompson has seen the majority of her time at the No. 4 spot, while Bruce is 9-5 at No. 2.
In doubles, the Bears have sent out 15 different doubles teams with Bruce and teammate Lucy Stofberg seeing the most time together with a 4-4 record at the No. 1 position. The pair's four wins ties for the team lead, while Sparks Thompson and Zorica Djuric are 4-2, while Bruce and Djuric are 4-1.
The Pacers
The USC Aiken men's team enters the week with a 7-8 record, but has
dropped three of its last four matches, including three Peach Belt
Conference matches. Most recently, the Pacers suffered a 7-2
setback to Georgia College last Friday to bring their PBC record to
2-4 for the season.
Leading the team in singles this season is Mathias Degardin with an 11-3 singles record, headlined by a 5-0 mark when playing at the No. 5 position. Teammates Andy Quirk and Julien Tan follow Degardin with 10 wins respectively, as Tan is slated to play at the No. 2 position in Thursday's contest.
In doubles, USC Aiken is 17-28 as a team, as the duo of Tan and Alejandro Andino posts a team-high four victories with all four coming at the No. 1 spot.
For the women's team, the Pacers are also 7-8 with a 2-6 mark in the PBC. After finishing the month of February with a 6-2 record, USC Aiken has dropped six of its last seven with just one win since Feb. 26. Most recently, the Pacers were blanked by Georgia College, 9-0, last Friday.
One of the team's lone bright spot in singles play has been Oliver Veskovac with a 10-4 record, as she has played in four different positions this season. Following Veskovac is Shauna Williams with a 9-5 record, headlined by a team-high five conference wins.
For the doubles portion, the Pacers are 19-26 as a team while the pair of Veskovac and Marie Habiyaremye is responsible for seven of the 19 doubles wins on the year. Scheduled to play at the No. 3 spot, the duo is 6-2 while playing in the final doubles slot.
