RESULTS

ROCK HILL, SC. – Despite winning the doubles point, Radford fell to Big South rival Winthrop, 4-3, in men's tennis action Friday afternoon at Memorial Courts.

After Ivan Salec and Thomas Dehaen improved to 5-1 on the season and 23-2 as a duo with an 8-4 win on court one, Igor Ogrizek and Stijn Meulemans rallied from a break down to clinch the team point.

Winthrop's lone win in doubles came from Dejon Bivens and Yuta Hirokawa, 9-7, at the final position.

Hirokawa opened singles with a 6-2, 6-1 decision on court six to tie the match, 1-1.

The Eagles (5-5, 2-0 Big South) took their first lead of the dual when Sergei Belov upset Salec in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Salec, the reigning conference player of the week, entered unbeaten on the spring and ranked 67th in the most recent ITA Rankings.

Guy Kubi extended Winthrop's advantage with a straight-set win of his own over Dehaen.

Trailing 3-1, Radford (4-3, 1-1 Big South) got wins from Meulemans (6-2, 2-6, 6-0) and Nick Sayer at positions five and two, respectively, to tie the match, 3-3. Sayer improved to 6-0 on the season with his 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Bivens.

With the match tied 3-3, the Eagles' Lirian Levy (5-7, 6-2, 6-3) rallied past Ogrizek at the No. 3 spot to secure the comeback.

Radford will return to action tomorrow with a 12 p.m. match at Elon.