April 24, 2009

ROCK HILL, S.C. -The Lions eliminated Newberry College in the semifinals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament Friday afternoon in Rock Hill, South Carolina. MHC rolled up a 5-2 win over Newberry en route to earning a berth in conference championship match to be played Saturday morning.

The Lions took the upper hand in doubles play, running the table in all three matches. MHC's Andre Schafer Rodriguez (Forotaleza, Brazil) and Stevan Stankovic (Ivan Goran Kovacic Hercegnovi MNE, Serbia ) defeated Newberry's Jeremy Smith and Felipe Sobrinho 8-4 in no. 1 doubles, while Koche Smith (Nassau, Bahamas) and Tyrone La Reservee (Durbin, South Africa) knocked off NC's Lucas Mattos and Maxim Sukharev 8-4 in no. 2 doubles and Alessardo du Besse (Rome, Italy) and Ugras Taylan Batuk (Istanbul, Turkey) upended Pavle Popovic and Mark Boswell in the no. 3 doubles match 8-3.

In singles play, Mars Hill's Alessandro du Besse cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory in no. 1 singles over Newberry opponent Maxim Sukharev. The Lions' final win of the day came in the no. 5 singles match when Tyrone La Reserve won in striaght sets over NC's Mark Boswell 6-1, 6-2 to give MHC the win.

Friday's no. 2 and no. 6 singles match went unfinished as Mars Hill's five victories had already earned their spot in the championship on Saturday.

The no. 3 seed Lions improve to 12-5 overall while no. 2 Newberry ends the year with an 8-8 record. Mars Hill will face no. 5 seed Tusculum on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. in the championship match. The Pioneers defeated no. 1 seed Wingate 5-4 in Friday's semifinals.

Tennis Match Results
#3 Mars Hill vs #2 Newberry
Apr 24, 2009 at Rock Hill, S.C.
#3 Mars Hill 5, #2 Newberry 2

Singles competition
1. Alessandro du Besse (MHC) def. Maxim Sukharev (NEWM) 6-2, 6-0
2. Lucas Mattos (NEWM) vs. Koeche Smith (MHC) unfinished
3. Jeremy Smith (NEWM) def. Ugras Taylan Batuk (MHC) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Felipe Sobrinho (NEWM) def. Andre Schafer (MHC) 6-2, 6-2
5. Tyrone La Reservee (MHC) def. Mark Boswell (NEWM) 6-1, 6-2
6. Pavle Popovic (NEWM) vs. Carlos Oyaga (MHC) unfinished 

Doubles competition
1. Andre Schafer/Stevan Stankovic (MHC) def. Jeremy Smith/Felipe Sobrinho (NEWM) 8-4
2. Koeche Smith/Tyrone La Reservee (MHC) def. Lucas Mattos/Maxim Sukharev (NEWM) 8-4
3. Alessandro du Besse/Ugras Taylan Batuk (MHC) def. Mark Boswell/Pavle Popovic (NEWM) 8-3

Match Notes:
#3 Mars Hill 12-5
#2 Newberry 8-8

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,4,3,5)
2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament Semifinals Mars Hill advances to the Championship match tomorrow at 9 a.m.
T-3:10 

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