Belmont's Henrik Claesson and Cedric Dujacquier during their doubles match against Austin Peay
Jacksonville State and Belmont advance to Men’s OVC Tennis Championship Match
Jacksonville State def. Morehead State 4-2 Box Score
Belmont def. Austin Peay 4-2 Box Score
Both Jacksonville State and Belmont were winners in the OVC Men’s Tennis Championship semifinals on Friday. The Gamecocks beat Morehead State 4-2, while the Bruins defeated Austin Peay by the identical score, 4-2.
Jacksonville State took the early, 1-0, lead by taking the doubles point and winning at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Jacksonville State’s tandem of Jaryd Reese and Pedro Wagner defeated Morehead State’s Jack Swindells and Ji Hoon Heo, 8-3. Both No. 2 and No. 3 doubles came down to the wire with tiebreakers. The Gamecocks took the No. 2 doubles match with Mathias Chaim and Dylan Gee defeating the Eagles’ David Clifford and Nick Mercer, 8-7 (7-3). At No. 3 doubles, Jacksonville State’s Jeff Wendler-Filho and Felipe Wenzel were up, 4-2, in the tiebreaker against Morehead State’s Giovanni Samaha and Gabriel Ruiz.
In singles action, Jacksonville State took No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5 singles, while Morehead State took No. 2 and No. 6 singles. At No. 1 and No. 4 singles, the Gamecocks pulled out three-set matches. Pedro Wagner defeated Jack Swindells of Morehead State 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. At No. 4 singles, Jacksonville State’s Jeff Wendler-Filho beat Morehead State’s Nick Mercer 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to clinch the match. Mathias Chaim of Jacksonville State was victorious over the Eagles’ David Clifford, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 5 spot. Morehead State’s singles victories came when Giovanni Samaha defeated Jacksonville State’s Jaryd Reese at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-3. Gabriel Ruiz also won for the Eagles at No. 6 singles, defeating the Gamecocks’ Felipe Diaz, 6-2, 6-0. No. 3 singles was unfinished when the match concluded as Jacksonville State’s Dylan Gee and Morehead State’s Ji Hoon Heo were tied up at 3-all in the third set.
Belmont jumped out to a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point over Austin Peay. Winning at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, the Bruins’ doubles duo of Mauricio Antun and Marko Lovrinovic defeated Austin Peay’s team of Jasmin Ademovic and Aleksas Tverijonas, 8-5 at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point. Finishing first was Belmont’s Hans Nardelli and Martijn Verberne, winning 8-2 over Austin Peay’s James Mitchell and Manuel Montenegro. Austin Peay’s lone doubles win came at No. 2 doubles where Iago Seffrin and Dimitar Ristovski defeated Belmont’s Cedric Dujacquier and Henrik Claesson, 8-5.
Singles play started with Belmont winning at No. 5 singles as Henrik Claesson defeated Austin Peay’s James Mitchell, 6-1, 6-1. Austin Peay then won at No. 6 singles, as Manuel Montenegro was up 7-5, 3-0 when Belmont’s Martijn Verberne had to retire due to injury. The Governors’ Iago Seffrin defeated the Bruins’ Hans Nardelli at the No. 4 position, 6-2, 6-2. Belmont’s Mauricio Antun beat Austin Peay’s Jasmin Ademovic, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 1 singles. To clinch the match, the Bruins’ Marko Lovrinovic defeated the Governors’ Dimitar Ristovski at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 6-2. The only unfinished match came at No. 3 singles, where Austin Peay’s Aleksas Tverijonas was winning against Belmont’s Cedric Dujacquier, 7-5, 5-2.
In the OVC Men’s Tennis Championship match tomorrow, #2 seed Belmont will take on #1 seed Jacksonville State. The championship match will start tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. CST at the Larry J. Heflin Tennis Center in Paducah, Ky. Both teams will be playing for an automatic bid into the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Championship tournament.