Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's tennis team opened the 2016 A-Sun Men's Tennis Championship Friday morning as the fourth-seeded Spartans earned a 4-1 victory over No. 5 Lipscomb from the USC Upstate Tennis Complex and advance to the semifinals for the second straight season.

Upstate improves to 8-13 on the season while Lipscomb's season ends with an 8-13 record.

"Starting off with the doubles point today was huge," said head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein. "It got the momentum going and put the pressure back on Lipscomb, and took a little off of us at the same time."

The Spartans grabbed the early 1-0 lead after capturing the doubles point following wins in the number one and three matches. In the number three doubles contest, Ignacio Garrido and Matt Bennion got things started for Upstate with a 6-1 win over Daniel Cardenas and Thais Minet. The Bisons answered back to win the number two match before Ramon Simonetti and Ankush Arora won the doubles point for the Spartans. The Second Team All-Conference duo topped Philippe Courteau and Alejandro Manzanares 6-2 to put the host team ahead 1-0.

Lipscomb evened the match 1-1 to start singles play at the number two contest, but Upstate responded with three consecutive wins for the 4-1 victory. Rajanvir Dharni gave the Spartans the lead back following his 6-4, 6-0 triumph over Kauai Linardi. Simonetti, a First Team All-Conference selection, would then record a 6-0, 6-4 win over Rob Mitchell.

All-Freshman Team honoree Lenhard Haupt clinched the match victory for Upstate with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Cardenas.

"I am very proud of the guys today," stated Trittenwein. "We have three seniors playing in the lineup and they deserve this victory. It is good to see them play another match."

The Spartans will face No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

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