Mobile, Ala. – The No. 5 Dalton State men's tennis team will play No. 2 Auburn Montgomery on Saturday morning for the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship.
The Roadrunners (17-4) upped their win streak to 14 with a 5-2 semi-final win over No. 10 William Carey University at Mobile Tennis Center. The win-streak dates back to a 5-4 loss to the Crusaders February 19
th.
Auburn Montgomery defeated No. 8 Coastal Georgia, 5-0, in Saturday's other semi-final round.
Dalton State won two of the three doubles lines and three singles lines. The final two were not finished. SSAC Newcomer of the Year
Edberg Espinoza and teammate
Joe Bray knocked-off SSAC Player of the Year Vivien Versier and teammate Francesco Olivia at number one doubles.
Espinoza also handed Versier his first singles loss in conference this year. "What a great win for the guys," said Coach Zack Rogers. "William Carey was our only loss in conference this year and the guys came out hungry and took care of business against an extremely talented team. Taking two points in doubles was the key to the match. The guys went into singles confident, relaxed, and motivated and it translated into a convincing 5-2 win. "
Doubles:
- Edberg Espinoza/Joe Bray (DS) def. Vivien Versier/Francesco Oliva (WC) 9-8 (6)
- Clement Fosse/Christian Hansson (WC) def. Jose Ruda/Sebastian Dartnell (DS) 8-4
- Adam Hornby/Nikolay Nikiforov (DS) def. Bruno Lopez/Leonardo Sechi (WC) 8-1
Singles:
- Edberg Espinoza (DS) def. Vivien Versier (WC) 6-2, 6-4
- Francisco Oliva (WC) def. Jose Ruda (DS) 6-3, 6-2
- Nikolay Nikiforov (DS) vs. Clement Fosse (WC) UNF
- Joe Bray (DS) def. Christian Hansson (WC) 7-5, 6-3
- Adam Hornby (DS) def. Andreas Brune (WC) 6-1, 6-2
- Sebastian Dartnell vs. Aleksei Tumakov (WC) 6-4, 5-4 UNF
The championship match will begin Saturday at 10:00 a.m. ET, 9:00 a.m. CT.
"We were Auburn Montgomery's only loss in conference this season and you can be certain that they are going to come out of the gates fast," said Rogers. "They are going to give us one heck of a fight."
After Saturday night's win... Edberg Espinoza, Nikolay Nikiforov, Sebastian Dartnell, Adam Hornby, Jose Ruda, and Sebastian Dartnell