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Men’s tennis loses home opener against Radford |
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
by ASHLEY DAVIS
Sports Reporter
Saturday afternoon, friends, family and teammates crowded the windows overlooking the isolated tennis matches held at Yonahlossee Racquet Club Saturday.
Appalachian’s men’s tennis team was forced to play its match against Radford University indoors due to unsure weather conditions and fell 5-2 after a nearly five-hour long battle.
With the loss, Appalachian’s record moved to 2-3 on the season, and Radford remains undefeated in its first four matches. Appalachian will commence conference play Tuesday against Elon University.
 Sophomore Trent Constance serves during Appalachian State’s match against Radford University Saturday. Constance lost to Highlander James LLoyd. Photo by Holt Menzies
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“We
needed a match like this,” ASU head tennis coach Bob Lake said.
“[Radford] is a very good team. It helps prepare us for Elon.”
Elon had a 23-3 record in 2007, taking the Southern Conference championship and ranking No. 42 in the nation.
Meanwhile, Radford’s win Saturday against the Mountaineers continued
their 11-game regular season consecutive win streak, and found more
victories for the team’s nationally ranked No. 57 Martin Sayer.
Sayer, who plays in the No. 1 spot for Radford’s doubles with sophomore
Zack Watson, rallied from 3-5 to defeat Mountaineers Ryan Brookshaw and
Lee Floyd by 8-6 to start the afternoon.
The No. 2 spot players, Appalachian sophomores Peter Jacobs and Trent Constance, also fell to Radford with a score of 8-5.
While Radford took the doubles points on the match, Appalachian
sophomore David Doverspike and junior Bobby Lake took a win at the No.
3 doubles spot over teammates Paul Boslet and James Lloyd, 8-5.
For singles play, No. 1 Sayer took another victory, this time over Lake, in a 6-4, 6-1 decision.
“I feel pretty good about how I played,” Lake said. “I played really
well the first match. Once he got momentum though it was downhill for
me… I think I double faulted like fifteen times in that second match. I
knew it was going to be tough for me, but he’s a pretty good player.”
Both Brookshaw at No. 2 and Constance at No. 3 were defeated by
Radford. Brookshaw lost in two sets, 2-6 and 2-6, while Constance fell
in three with 5-7, 6-3, and 3-6.
Finding wins were No. 4 Floyd and No. 6 Doverspike, who went 2-0 on the afternoon in both doubles and singles.
 Sophomore Trent Constance during Appalachian State’s match against Radford University Saturday. Constance lost to Highlander James LLoyd. Photo by Holt Menzies
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Floyd faced junior Mehdi Benhammou, and took a victory in three sets,
6-1 and 6-2. Doverspike pulled out a close three-setter against Boslet
with scores of 6-4, 2-6, and 6-4.
Sealing the match for Radford was the team’s win in the No. 5 spot
where Appalachian’s Jacob lost in two sets to Watson, 6-4 and 6-2.
“I was happy with the way it went. We have great team unit,” head
tennis coach Lake said. “We just need to work on closing out. We have
to get up and finish the match. I have no problem with today’s loss
though.”
Weather permitting, the Mountaineers will travel to Elon Tuesday to compete at 2 p.m.
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