Wildcat M. Tennis Wins Thrilling 4-3 Match vs. USC Upstate

Sunday, January 27

Davidson, N.C.

1 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

USC-Upstate

Senior No. 1 singles player Flaviu Simihaian (photo courtsey of Willis Glasglow - WG Sports)

Wildcat M. Tennis Wins Thrilling 4-3 Match vs. USC Upstate

1/27/2008 7:22:39 PM | Men's Tennis

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Senior Flaviu Simihaian (Nasaud, Romania) pulled out an exciting three-set match at No. 1 singles to lead the Davidson men's tennis team to a thrilling 4-3 victory over visiting USC Upstate, who is making their first appearance in Division I tennis, on Sunday afternoon at the Knobloch Tennis Center on the campus of Davidson College.

The Wildcats scored their first win of the season to improve to 1-1, while the Spartans fell to 0-1 in their first official match as a Division I program. They were 23-5 last year and advanced to the D-II national quarterfinals.

"What an incredible match for us today against a very good USC Upstate team who was nationally rank in D-II last year," said head coach Drew Barrett, who is starting his second year at the helm of the Wildcat men's tennis program. "Our guys came through after being down in the doubles point. We made big strides toward our team goals today, and I am thrilled with the overall team effort."

Tied at 3-3 in team points for the match, it all came down to Simihaian's battle at No. 1 singles against 25th ranked Sandy Franz of USC Upstate. Franz took the first set by the count of 6-4, but Simihaian stepped up his game in the second set for a 6-3 win to push the match to a third and final set. The senior then captured his first win of the season with a well-played 6-3 win to give the Wildcats the win at 4-3.

Simihaian also teamed up with junior Ethan Jaffee (Indianapolis, Ind.) at the No. 1 doubles spot to earn a 9-7 win to improve to 2-0 on the year.

The dramatic ending was sent by the Wildcats taking three of the first five singles matches after dropping the doubles point.

Trailing 2-0, junior Scott Myers (West Palm Beach, Fla.) put Davidson on the board with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 6 over Leandro Osorio.

After Sebastian Gonzales pushed the Spartan lead out to 3-1 by defeating sophomore Sam Burns (Banner Elk, N.C.), freshman Walker Lyons (Wallingford, Pa.) secured his first collegiate singles win with a three-set victory (6-4, 3-6, 7-5) and then Jaffee knotted things up at 3-all with his hard fought 6-2, 7-6(7) win at No. 2 singles to set up the final match of Simihaian and Franz.

Davidson played well in its three double matches, dropping two very close matches at the No. 2 and 3 spots to allow USC Upstate to grab a 1-0 leading heading into singles play.

Davidson remains at home when it next hosts Longwood on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m.

Davidson 4, USC Upstate 3

DOUBLES
No. 1 - Simihaian/Jaffee (DAV) def. Franz/Airaldi (USCUState) - 9-7
No. 2 - Gonzales/Osorio (USCUState) def. Compeau/Noble (DAV) - 8-6
No. 3 - Tori/Roux (USCUState) def. Lyons/Burns (DAV) - 9-7

SINGLES
No. 1 - Flaviu Simihaian (DAV) def. #25 Sandy Franz (USCUState) - 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 - Ethan Jaffee (DAV) def. Javier Tori (USCUState) - 6-2, 7-6(7)
No. 3 - Renzo Airaldi (USCUState) def. Eric Noble (DAV) - 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 - Walker Lyons (DAV) def. Jack Roux (USCUState) - 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
No. 5 - Sebastian Gonzales (USCUState) def. Sam Burns (DAV) - 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
No. 6 - Scott Myers (DAV) def. Leandro Osorio (USCUState) - 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 3,6,5,4,2,1*

* Clinched the match