ELON, N.C. – In a fiercely competitive matchup in the semi-final round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, the College of Charleston men's tennis team came out victorious over No. 3 seed Elon, 4-3, to advance to the tournament finals.
The Cougars (18-6) will face No. 1 seed and nationally ranked No. 67 ranked UNCW in the final round on Sunday, April 24 at 10 a.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Burlington. N.C. This is the third consecutive season that Charleston has advanced to the CAA Tournament Finals.
College of Charleston and Elon battled in an epic four-hour contest that included a pair of tiebreakers in doubles and five three-set matches in singles. In doubles, CofC's No. 3 tandem of Charlie Ghriskey and Zack Lewis rolled to a 6-1 win, before Elon pulled even when the No. 2 duo of Robert Lindgren and Mario Paccini outlasted Josh Record and Vasily Kichigin, 7-6 (7-5). The point was decided at No. 1, when the top Phoenix team of Petar Tomic and Chris Humphreys came back from a 5-1 deficit in the tiebreaker to get past Juan Estevarena and Rodrigo Encinas, 7-6 (10-8).
The drama continued in singles play. Elon extended its advantage to 2-0 as Lindgren was a 6-1, 6-2 victor over Ghriskey at No. 3. CofC got on the board at No. 4 when Lewis battled back for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over Salvador Milares. The Phoenix moved ahead 3-1 as Felipe Osses-Konig defeated Garrett Gordon, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 6. However the Cougars responded with a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 victory by Kichigin over Tomic at No. 5 and Estevarena edged Felipe Sarrasague, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 1 to tie the contest. The match was decided in a tremendous battle at No. 2, where Paccini captured the first set, 6-2, and Encinas took the second, 6-4. With the third set locked at 6-6, both players had numerous match points before Encinas pulled out a 16-14 triumph in the tiebreaker.
The Cougars advanced to the CAA finals in each of the past two seasons, but each season they were thwarted there. Charleston fell in 2015 to No. 1 seed William & Mary, 4-1, and fell to UNCW, 4-0, in 2014. The Cougars did defeat UNCW in the 2015 CAA Tournament Semi-Finals, 4-3. The Seahawks were nationally ranked at that point as well, standing at No. 63.
For more information on the CAA Tennis Championship, visit the official championship pages under the championships tab at CAASports.com. Fans can join the social media conversation by using the official CAA Championships hashtag, #CAAChamps. For more information about the College of Charleston men's tennis team, check out CofCSports.com.
2016 CAA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP – Semifinals
Jimmy Powell Tennis Center – Elon, N.C.
#1 UNCW 4, #4 William & Mary 1
Singles
#1 Santtu Leskinen (UNCW) vs. Christian Cargill (W&M) – DNF, 7-6, (7-4), 5-3
#2 Christiaan Van der Burgh (UNCW) vs. Addison Appleby (W&M) – DNF, 6-2, 3-6, 1-1
#3 Agustin Savarino (UNCW) d. Alec Miller (W&M), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
#4 Aviv Ben Shabat (UNCW) d. Lars De Boer (W&M), 6-3, 6-3
#5 Aidan Talcott (W&M) d. Xander Veys (UNCW), 6-2, 6-3
#6 Andres Torres (UNCW) d. Damon Niquet (W&M), 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 6, 3
Doubles
#1 Cargill/Scott Huang (W&M) d. Van der Burgh/Shabat (UNCW), 6-3
#2 Leskinen/Taylor Cramer (UNCW) d. Ryan Newman/Tristan Bautil (W&M), 6-2
#3 Savarino/Josh Hublitz (UNCW) d. De Boer/Niquet (W&M), 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
#2 College of Charleston 4, #3 Elon 3
Singles
#1 Juan Estevarena (CofC) d. Felipe Sarrasague (Elon), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
#2 Rodrigo Encinas (CofC) d. Mario Paccini (Elon), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (16-14)
#3 Robert Lindgren (Elon) d. Charlie Ghriskey (CofC), 6-1, 6-2
#4 Zack Lewis (CofC) d. Salvador Milares (Elon), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
#5 Vasily Kichigin (CofC) d. Petar Tomic (Elon), 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3
#6 Felipe Osses-Konig (Elon) d. Garrett Gordon (CofC), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 6, 5, 1, 2
Doubles
#1 Tomic/Chris Humphreys (Elon) d. Estevarena/Encinas (CofC), 7-6 (10-8)
#2 Lindgren/Paccini (Elon) d. Josh Record/Kichigin (CofC), 7-6 (7-5)
#3 Ghriskey/Lewis (CofC) d. Neal Port/Mijares (Elon), 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
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