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.