4/20/2009
Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University men’s tennis team won its 10th match in a row Monday afternoon, taking a 5-0 decision over Catawba College in the first round of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament.
The 2009 SAC regular season champions, Wingate did not drop a set Monday on its home turf. The number one seed Bulldogs are 12-4 overall on the season. Wingate faces the winner of the Brevard/Tusculum match Friday at the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill, S.C. The SAC semi-final contest will begin at 9 a.m. Friday. Catawba concludes the 2008-09 campaign 10-11 overall.
Bulldog sophomore Braedan Patchell (Oakville, Ont., Canada) clinched the match for the hosts, taking a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Catawba freshman Thomas Mitchell (Nanaimo, B.C., Canada) at the number three singles flight. Patchell’s victory was Earlier in the afternoon, Patchell teamed with sophomore Louis Villarroel (Maraval, Trinidad) to defeat Catawba senior Shahin Soltan (Vetlanda, Sweden) and freshman Uri Yarkoni (Kelowna, B.C., Canada) 8-6 at the number one doubles position.
Wingate freshman Flavio Rathsam (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also won two matches Monday. In singles, Rathsam topped Yarkoni 6-0, 6-1 at the number six singles spot. In doubles, Rathsam and classmate Bruno Pudence (Sao Paulo, Brazil) defeated Catawba’s Matt King (Concord, New South Wales, Australia) and Tom McCormick (Winchester, England) 8-6 at the number two doubles flight.
King and McCormick defeated Pudence and Rathsam 8-3 in the regular season meeting between the two teams on March 17 in Salisbury. Today’s meeting was the third contest between the two schools this year. Wingate picked up an 8-1 road decision on March 17, while Catawba earned a hard-fought 5-3 victory in a non-conference match on Sept. 30 at Wingate.
FOOD LION SAC MEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT
MEN’S TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
WINGATE 5, CATAWBA 0
Singles
#1 Shahin Soltan (CAT) led Mitchell Lvovsky (WIN) 5-4, DNF
#2 Bruno Pudence (WIN) led Matt King (CAT) 6-1, 1-1, DNF
#3 Braedan Patchell (WIN) def. Thomas Mitchell (CAT) 6-0, 6-2
#4 Drew Owen (WIN) led Cyle Petersen (CAT) 6-1, 2-1, DNF
#5 Matthew Litchenstein (WIN) led Tom McCormick (CAT), 6-3, 4-1, DNF
#6 Flavio Rathsam (WIN) def. Uri Yarkoni (CAT) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
#1 Patchell/Louis Villarroel (WIN) def. Soltan/Yarkoni (CAT) 8-6
#2 Pudence/Rathsam (WIN) def. King/McCormack (CAT) 8-6
#3 Litchenstein/Jose Valarezo (WIN) def. Mitchell/Petersen (CAT) 8-4
RECORDS: Wingate 12-4 overall; Catawba 10-11 overall