MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The No. 1 seeded College of Charleston men's tennis team (16-3, 10-0) fell to No. 4 Elon (8-13, 6-4) by a 4-3 score in the first round of the 2010 Southern Conference Tournament on Saturday, April 24.
Elon opened the match strong as Cody MacDowell and Philip Nemec notched an impressive 8-2 decision at No. 2 doubles over sophomore John Harden (Atlanta, Ga.) and freshman Kyle Parker (Richmond, Va.). Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas then clinched the doubles point, and a key 1-0 lead in the match, with an 8-6 victory over junior Lukas Koncilia (Tyrol, Austria) and sophomore Tom Delme (Hamoir, Belgium) at the No. 1 spot.
The Phoenix were also leading at the third position at the time of the clinching victory as Thomas Darling and Eric Turner were leading junior Mickael Boyer (Meudon, France) and sophomore Mickael Trintignac (Le Cannet, France) by a 7-6 score.
Parker got the Cougars back even in the match as he claimed the first singles victory, notching a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Cody MacDowell at No. 5 while Trintignac posted a 6-1, 6-4 victory at the second position to give CofC its first lead at 2-1. That would not last long as Eric Turner delivered a commanding 6-3, 6-1 win over Delme to deadlock the match once again, this time at 2-2.
Lukas Koncilia, the 2010 Southern Conference Player of the Year and a All-Conference 1st Team selection, then put the Cougars in a position to advance to the championship match with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 over Philip Nemec. Thomas Darling of Elon then claimed a hard fought 6-3, 7-5 victory over John Harden at the sixth spot in order to tie the match at 3-3.
That set the stage for one final match to decide who would reach the 2010 Southern Conference championship. That was between the Phoenix' Alberto Rojas and the Cougars' Mickael Boyer at No. 4. Rojas claimed a narrow 7-6 decision in the first set before Boyer battled back to claim a 6-3 victory in Set 2 and force one final set to decide the match, and the season.
Rojas wasted no time as he quickly jumped out to a 4-1 led in the third set before clinching a 6-4 victory to claim the match and advance to the Phoenix to the championship.
The Cougars close out the season with a 16-4 overall record and a 10-0 record in regular season Southern Conference competition.
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Singles competition
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1. KONCILIA, Lukas (COFC) def. Philip Nemec (ELON) 6-2, 6-3
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2. TRINTIGNAC, Mickael (COFC) def. Chase Helpingstine (ELON) 6-4, 6-1
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3. Eric Turner (ELON) def. DELME, Tom (COFC) 6-3, 6-1
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4. Alberto Rojas (ELON) def. BOYER, Mickael (COFC) 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
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5. PARKER, Kyle (COFC) def. Cody S-MacDowell (ELON) 6-4, 6-2
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6. Thomas Darling (ELON) def. HARDEN, John (COFC) 6-3, 7-5
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Doubles competition
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1. Chase Helpingstine/Alberto Rojas (ELON) def. KONCILIA, Lukas/DELME, Tom (COFC) 8-6
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2. Cody S-MacDowell/Philip Nemec (ELON) def. HARDEN, John/PARKER, Kyle (COFC) 8-2
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3. Thomas Darling/Eric Turner (ELON) def. BOYER, Mickael/TRINTIGNAC, Mickael (COFC) 7-6
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