HILTON HEAD, S.C. - The UC Men's Tennis Team suffered their fourth defeat of the season in their 2014 Spring Break Tennis opener in Hilton Head Island on Monday afternoon to Tusculum College by the score of 6-3. The match was closely contested despite the score, with the final result not decided until the second to last match was concluded.

The Pioneers jumped out to a quick lead, defeating UC in 1^st and 3^rd doubles. James Gammell and Dennis Okoth were downed 8-3 while Jake Lorenz and Gabe Seymour fell 8-2. However, UC was pleasantly surprised when seniors Matt Sherba and Davey Nelson dominated 2^nd doubles, blanking the opposition 8-0. The Golden Eagles 2^nd doubles team did not face a game point against them during the entire match, and to date is the pair's best performance of the season, the only blemish on their record so far this season being against Bluefield State in a tiebreaker.

In singles, the Pioneers claimed four out of six remaining points to close out the match. The Golden Eagles did not go quietly though, with James Gammell fighting back against last year's Southern Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Luke Winkelmann in an incredible second set to force a 3^rd set super tiebreaker to decide the match. Eventually, Winkelmann ousted Gammell in the tiebreaker, but was pushed to the brink to do so, vanquishing his Charleston counterpart 6-1, 4-6, 10-6. In 2^nd singles, Matt Sherba fell in a hard fought two set match after being on the court for over two hours 6-3, 6-4 in a match that featured many long rallies. Charleston did notch a victory at 3^rd singles as Dennis Okoth ousted the second Winkelmann brother on Tusculum's squad 6-3, 6-3. Charleston was also victorious at 4^th singles as Jake Lorenz's consistent groundstrokes proved too much for David Siegle 6-4, 6-2. The Golden Eagles would be unable to find any additional wins, however, with Nick Bakos falling in 5^th singles 6-2, 6-2, to one of the few American players on Tusculum's squad, John Taylor. In 6^th singles, Leon Siez beat Charleston's Varun Shah 6-1, 6-0.

The Golden Eagles were upbeat despite the loss, "We felt like we played well at times today, but it wasn't enough to get the job done. So we have to come out tomorrow and get the win. This doesn't affect our mentality for the rest of the week or the season," said sophomore Jake Lorenz. Charleston will not have long to rest, as they will be back in action tomorrow against Dickinson, a Division 3 team from Carlisle, PA.  The team will then play Tiffin University on Wednesday before a day off on Thursday. Charleston's record drops to 2-4 on the season and snaps a two-match winning streak.
 
Results
Doubles
 
Winkellman/Winkellman (TC) d. Gammell/Okoth (UC) 8-2
Sherba/Nelson (UC) d. Taylor/Siegle (TC)                         8-0
Planchard/Siez (TC) d. Lorenz/Seymour (UC)                  8-3
 
Singles
Winkellman (TC) d. Gammell (UC) 6-1. 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Planchard (TC) d. Sherba (UC) 6-3, 6-4        
Okoth (UC) d. Winkellman (TC) 6-3, 6-3
Lorenz (UC) d. Siegle (TC) 6-4, 6-2
Taylor (TC) d. Bakos (UC) 6-2, 6-2
Siez (TC) d. Shah (UC) 6-1, 6-0