BANNER ELK, N.C. -- The No. 39 Lees-McRae College Bobcats men's
tennis team remains unbeaten in the conference with a 5-4
come-from-behind upset win over the No. 17 Anderson University
Trojans Saturday at the Lees-McRae College Indoor Tennis
Center.
With the win, the Bobcats snap Anderson's 43-conference match
win streak, giving the team their first win over Anderson since
2003.
Lees-McRae improves to 6-0 in the conference and 11-5 overall,
while Anderson falls to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
After falling behind 2-1 after the doubles matches, Lees-McRae had
to rally to pull the upset.
Anderson took a 3-1 lead with a win at number two, but Shawn Sumner
controlled his match at number three with a 6-0, 6-1 win to cut the
led to 3-2.
At the four position Anderson squeaked out a point in the tiebreak
to make it 4-2.
With the match on the line, Nandor Solymosi won the first set 7-6
(7-4) over No. 7 Phillip Pakebusch. Pakebusch tied the match at
two sets, but Solymosi dominated the third set 6-1 to earn the win
and continue the match.
Tyler Grove took the first set of at the number five position 6-1
and won his second set 6-4 to tie the match at four putting the
match in the hands of freshman Steve Karendal at the number six
position.
Karendal delivered with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win to seal the
upset and the win. Karendal sealed two matches for the Bobcats
this season at the six position. He delivered the game-winning
point in the upset over Mount Olive.
Doubles
1. No. 8 Phillip Pakebusch/Renato Assuncao (AU) defeats Steve
Karendal/Alek Mojski (LMC), 8-6
2. Travis VanHoy/Shawn Sumner (LMC) defeats Marc Pibernat/Stephane
Murray (AU) 9-8 (7-5)
3. IIya Zakharov/Navaneetha Baskaran (AU) defeats Tyler
Grove/Nandor Solymosi (LMC), 9-7
Singles
1. Nandor Solymosi (LMC) defeats No. 7 Phillip Pakebusch (AU), 7-6
(7-4), 4-6, 6-1
2. Stephan Murrauy (AU) defeats Alek Mojski (LMC), 6-1, 6-0
3. Shawn Sumner (LMC) defeats Marc Pibernat (AU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Renato Assuncao (AU) defeats Travis VanHoy (LMC), 6-1, 2-6, 7-6
(7-3)
5. Tyler Grove (LMC) defeats Navaneetha Baskaran (AU), 6-1, 6-4
6. Steve Karendal (LMC) defeats IIya Zakharov (AU), 6-1, 6-0
Pictured: Head Coach Paul Goode
