BREVARD, N.C. — The fifth-seeded Newberry College men’s tennis team fell painfully short of their first-ever South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship, as the Wolves were edged 5-4 by the third-seeded Queens Royals at the McCoy Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
Newberry’s record stands at 20-6 overall and the Wolves will await word on a potential NCAA Tournament berth. The Wolves were not previously regionally ranked, but wins over Anderson and Tusculum may boost the Wolves’ resume. The Southeast Region sends nine teams to the tournament.
The tournament field is announced on May 4, with the final regional ranking announced this Wednesday.
The Wolves took a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion of the dual with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. The all-conference duo of Jordan Monosky and Jacob Svantesson earned an 8-6 win at No. 2, with Richard Zeh and Logan Adkins took an 8-6 win at No. 3.
Monosky and Svantesson earned singles wins at Nos. 3 and 4, with Monosky taking a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 and Svantesson earning a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4, putting the Wolves one win away from their first conference title.
The Wolves were swept in two-set matches at Nos. 1, 2 and 6, putting the balance of the match on Angel Pizarro and No. 5. Pizarro dropped the first set 7-5 and battled back to take a 6-4 win in the second set. Pizarro fell behind in the third set by a 4-1 count, then came back to tie the set at 4-4. Pizarro led 6-5 and was two points away from a win before Queens’ Giovanni Setti forced a tiebreak. Setti won the tiebreak 7-2 to hand the Wolves the narrow defeat.
In Friday action at the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, the Wolves avenged a regular season loss, this time eliminating the top-seeded Tusculum Pioneers with a 5-1 in the semifinals at the McCoy Tennis Center.
The Wolves took a 2-1 lead in the doubles portion of the match with 8-5 wins at No. 2 by Jordan Monosky and Jacob Svantesson and at No. 3 by Logan Adkins and Richard Zeh.
SAC Freshman of the Year Svantesson picked up the Wolves’ first singles point with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Tashique Kader at No. 4. Doubles partner Monosky took a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 3 to put the scarlet and gray one bout away from the finals.
Fernando Tous clinched the Wolves’ finals berth with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 over Eduardo Munoz. Monosky and Svantesson were defeated by the same opponents in the regular season, making the tournament victories especially sweet.
In quarterfinal action, a three-set singles win by Fernando Espana at No. 1 clinched a 5-2 win in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals for the fifth-seeded Newberry College men’s tennis team over fourth-seeded Anderson.
The win avenged a regular season loss to the Trojans. Newberry’s four SAC losses all came by 5-4 scores, with injury affecting the Anderson match.
Newberry got off to a great start by winning all three doubles matches. “Los Fernandos” – Espana and Fernando Tous – were the first pair to complete their match with an 8-2 win at No. 1, followed by an 8-5 win at No. 3 by Logan Adkins and Richard Zeh.
The all-conference pairing of Jordan Monosky and Jacob Svantesson were pushed to the limit, but took a 9-7 win in the tiebreak for a 9-8 win at No. 2, putting Newberry up 3-0.
A loss at No. 5 singles gave the Trojans their first match, but Monosky put the Wolves one match away from victory with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles.
The Wolves lost the first set on four of the six singles courts, but Espana responded with a fantastic comeback deserving of his first team all-conference status. He roared back after conceding the second set to earn a 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 win and push the scarlet and gray into the semifinals.