BOX SCORE

ROCK HILL, SC- After quite a layoff in between matches, the Winthrop Eagles got right back to work this Sunday afternoon as they continued their conference tear, downing UNC Asheville 4-3.

With multiple Big South teams trading wins and losses, this win helps the Eagles fortify their 2^nd place conference standing.  Sitting at 4-1 in Big South play and 8-10 overall this season, the Eagles have their eyes set on the Radford Highlanders as they come to town this coming Tuesday, April 9^th at 3 p.m. in what will be the Eagles last home match of the regular season.

In last year's meeting against Winthrop, Asheville took the doubles point comfortably and eventually went on to seal the victory with a 6-1 mark.  Asheville proved to be the best doubles team in the Big South last season, so the Eagles had their hands full and their sights set on beating the Bulldogs at their own strength to start off the match.  The Bulldogs managed to get on the board first with an 8-6 victory at the No. 2 position as Schubel and Kripak dispatched the Eagle duo of freshman Steven Patrick (Knoxville, Tennessee) and junior Yuta Hirokawa (Niigata, Japan).   The Eagles started to turn the tide as sophomores Peter Nagovnak (Kraubath, Austria) and Dylan Comerford (Johannesburg, South Africa) handed Asheville's Langeard and Waissen an 8-4 defeat at the top position.  Freshmen Corey Decandia (Adelaide, Australia) and Juan Pablo Boada (La Paz, Bolivia) completed the comeback for the Eagles by clinching the doubles point with a decisive 8-5 win over Crocker and Landau.

Moving into the singles round the Eagles put Asheville away early as they got off to a 4-0 lead.  Nagovnak and Boada were first to add to the score line as they both posted 6-3, 6-1 wins at their respective positions.  Up 3-0 in the match, freshman Ivar Aramburu (Puebla, Mexico) capped off the victory for the Eagles with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Asheville's Matt Waissen at the No. 2 spot.  Hirokawa and Comerford were unable to find the answer to their opponents as they both fell at the Nos. 1 and 3 positions.  Returning to the singles lineup for the first time since the beginning of the season, Patrick battled with Asheville's Brett Landau at the No. 6 position.  After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, Patrick battled back to take the 2^nd set 6-2.  Patrick and Landau traded match points in the 3^rd set tiebreak, only to see Landau come out on top with an 11-9 win.