Bucs Slither by Rattlers, Clipped by Eagles Friday
2/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Charleston Southern's men's team opened play at Clemson's Men's Tennis Spring Classic Friday with a win and a loss, as a 4-3 afternoon victory over the Rattlers of Florida A&M helped make up for an early morning 6-1 loss to Southern Mississippi.
As they had done in their pitstop at Presbyterian on Thursday, the men's squad got off to a good start against FAMU by capturing the doubles point. CSU's number one doubles team, Guy David and Grega Teraz, won comfortably, defeating their opponents 8-2, while number three team Keith Whittingham and Chris Peek was made to sweat before overcoming the Rattlers 8-6.
In singles play, the Bucs clinched victory by dominating play on the first three courts. Steven Dean (6-3, 6-4 victory at number one), Guy David (6-1, 6-1 victory at number two) and Grega Teraz (6-2, 6-2 victory at number three) all won comfortably against the Rattlers' top three players. As it turned out, each of the three victories would be critical to the Buc cause on the day, as FAMU rallied to win the singles matches on courts four, five and six, resulting in the final tally of CSU 4, Florida A&M 3.
In the earlier match, the Bucs excelled at number one in both doubles and singles, as the doubles team of Teraz and David (8-4) as well as number one singles player Dean (6-1, 6-1) were victorious against the Golden Eagles. When combined with their wins later in the day against the Rattlers, Teraz and David have combined to win their last three doubles matches, while Dean has also won three consecutive singles matches and four of his last five matches on the season.
The wins were the only ones CSU could record on the morning, however, as USM swept the remaining doubles matches to capture the doubles point and won the remaining five singles matches as well. CSU made their Conference USA opponents work, as four of the five matches would go to a decisive third set, but the Eagles ultimately were able to capture them all.
The 1-1 day moves CSU's record on the season to 3-5. The men will complete their participation in Clemson's Spring Classic on Saturday, when they will face Toledo at 8:30 AM before facing number-two ranked Division III squad Emory at 2 P.M.
