MEN'S TENNIS EXTENDS STREAKS; DEFEATS SOUTH CAROLINA STATE, 6-1

Friday, March 19

RADFORD

3:00 pm

Radford University

South Carolina State

MEN'S TENNIS EXTENDS STREAKS; DEFEATS SOUTH CAROLINA STATE, 6-1

3/19/2010 6:42:24 PM | Men's Tennis

RESULTS

RADFORD, Va. – Highlighted by strong doubles play, Radford cruised by South Carolina State 6-1 in non-conference men's tennis action Friday afternoon at the RU Tennis Courts.

Winners of two consecutive and 36 straight home contests, the Highlanders improved to 4-8 overall, while the Bulldogs fell to 6-4.

For the second time in as many matches, Radford jumped out to a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles points. The Highlanders' top duo of Ivan Salec and Thomas Dehaen rallied from a 4-3 deficit to defeat Radek Pivonka and Gabriel Meana, 8-4.

Shortly after Salec and Dehaen improved to 7-1 as a tandem, the Highlanders' Paul Boslet and Erik Finkenbrink recorded an 8-3 win on court two, while Zack Watson and Igor Ogrizek defeated Jan Langer and Dmytro Kovalevych, 8-4, to give RU just its second doubles sweep of the spring.

Watson put his club up 2-0 with a straight-set (6-2, 6-2) decision on court two and Salec stretched the Highlanders' lead to 3-0 with his eighth straight singles win, a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Radek Pivonka at the top spot.

Like Salec, Ogrizek extended his winning streak to eight consecutive and clinched the match for Radford with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory at the No. 3 position.

Salec, ranked 79th in the most recent ITA singles rankings, improved to 8-4, while Ogrizek upped his singles record to a team-best 9-3.

Finkenbrink gave Radford its fifth singles triumph of the afternoon with a straight-set (6-4, 6-1) victory over David Grund at the final position.

In the most competitive singles contest of the day, Boslet rallied past Alexander Malko, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 11-9 for his second win of the 2010 campaign. The junior trailed 8-6 in the third-set tiebreak before winning five of the last six points.

South Carolina State had to fight for its only singles win as Meana needed three sets at the No. 2 position.

Radford will conclude its three-match homestand Saturday afternoon with a 3 p.m. match against St. John's.