Upstate Steps Out of Conference Saturday, Travels to UNC Asheville
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's tennis team travels to Asheville, N.C. Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. non-conference match against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs from the Asheville Racquet Club.
Upstate (4-9) opened A-Sun play last Saturday with a thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind victory at home over North Florida. The Spartans rallied from 3-0 down to win four straight singles matches and earn the 4-3 victory. Ignacio Garrido began the comeback for Upstate at the number five singles match as he won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, and Jamie Yates followed at number three with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph. Lenhard Haupt evened the match at 3-3 when he won his number four singles match 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).
Ramon Simonetti won the match for the Spartans, and complete the comeback, following his victory in the number one singles match 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7).
Yates leads Upstate this season with an 8-3 singles mark and is 4-2 when playing at the number three position. The Spartans have two doubles combinations that have posted three wins each this year beginning with Garrido and Haupt who are 3-3 playing at number two. The number one doubles pairing of Simonetti and Ankusha Arora are 3-3 overall.
UNC Asheville currently sits at 5-5 on the season and hosts Georgia Southern Friday afternoon before facing Upstate on Saturday.
Upstate is facing the Bulldogs for the third time in program history on Saturday. The all-time series is tied 1-1 with UNC Asheville leading 1-0 when playing in Asheville. The Spartans won the last meeting, 4-3, in Spartanburg during the 2014 season.
Upstate returns to conference action on Thursday, Mar. 24 as it hosts Stetson at 2 p.m. from the USC Upstate Tennis Complex.
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