Third Set Tie-Breaker Determines Winner in M. Tennis Match vs. Wofford

Tuesday, March 29

Spartanburg, S.C.

3:30 p.m.

Davidson College

Wofford

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Third Set Tie-Breaker Determines Winner in M. Tennis Match vs. Wofford

3/29/2011 10:42:44 PM | Men's Tennis

Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID

Match Results

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — For the second match in a row, and fourth time overall, the Wildcats were within a singles win of taking home its first Southern Conference victory of the year, but Wofford earned a third set tie-breaker victory at No. 5 singles to pick up the 4-3 win on Tuesday afternoon in men's tennis.

The match was originally scheduled for last Sunday, but due to rain, it was moved to Tuesday.

Davidson fell to 4-14 overall and 0-5 in SoCon action, while Wofford bumped its record to 3-2 in league play and 7-8 overall. The 'Cats have now dropped 4-3 decisions to SoCon-foes Elon, Chattanooga, Samford and the Terriers.

It all came to the No. 5 singles match between Walker Lyons (Wallingford, Pa.) and Drew Superstein, and a battle it was, going three sets. Superstein picked up the first set, 6-4, but Lyons went on to force the third set with his own 6-4 win in set two. The final set then went the distance in a back-and-forth affair that needed a tie-breaker to finish it. In the tie-breaker, Superstein prevailed, earning a 7-3 victory to give the Terriers the clinching team point for the win.

For the second match in a row, Davidson raced out to a 1-0 lead in team points with another strong showing in doubles action. The No. 1 team of Joe Schafer (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Calum Gee (Ayr, Scotland) cruised to their second straight win together with an 8-3 triumph over Wofford's No. 1 team of Stuart Robertson and Tinus Van Wyk. The duo improved to 2-3 in league matches.

Sealing the win was the No. 3 doubles team of Chris Mark (Union City, Calif.) and Kevin Moore (Overland Park, Kan.), who also scored an 8-3 win. The pair ran their SoCon doubles record 4-1.

It was then another battle in singles play for the Wildcats. They grabbed a 2-0 lead when Mark picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 for his sixth singles win of the year.

Wofford took the lead then with wins at No. 4, 6 and 2 for a 3-2 advantage, but Schafer knotted things up at 3-all when he scored a three-set winner over Van Wyk at No. 1 to set up the battle at No. 5 singles.

Schafer, playing in his 10th three-set singles match of the year, and fifth in the last six matches, prevailed with a 7-5 win in the third and final set. He had split with Van Wyk in the first two sets, 2-6, 6-3. The sophomore evened his singles record to 9-9, with five of them coming in three sets. He's won his last two straight three-set matches.

Davidson stays on the road and will play at Appalachian State on Saturday, Apr. 2, with a match time set for 1 p.m. The 'Cats will also play Georgia Southern this weekend on Sunday at home for a 1 p.m. match.