SUMTER, S.C. — Lenoir-Rhyne University defeated Tusculum University 4-2 in the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship tournament on Thursday at the Palmetto Tennis Center.
The 41st-ranked Bears (10-4), seeded fifth in the eight-team field, broke a 2-2 tie by winning the final two singles matches against the 28th-ranked Pioneers (17-5), who were seeded fourth. Lenoir-Rhyne will play top-seeded Catawba in the semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m.
In doubles, the Bears’ 33rd-ranked duo of Vitor Ferreira and Vadym Rogynskyi defeated Romain Payan and Angus Howard at flight one, and Paul Daniel Meyer teamed with Lucas Galy for a 6-4 win over David Negzaoui and Will Gee to give Lenoir-Rhyne a 1-0 lead.
In singles, Rogynskyi defeated Negzaoui 6-1, 6-0 at flight three to give the Bears a 2-0 lead, but Payan downed Ferreira 6-3, 7-5 to get the Pioneers on the board. Gee claimed a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Elijah Blackshaw to tie the match at 2-2, but Meyer beat Rens Verhaar 6-4, 6-4 at flight two and Samuil Sivinov downed Howard 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to clinch the match for the Bears.
The other SAC semifinal on Friday will be between Wingate and Lincoln Memorial, after each team picked up 4-1 victories in Thursday’s quarterfinal round. The championship match will be played on Saturday.
