ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop men's tennis (7-8, 2-2 Big South) suffered a 4-3 loss to UNC Asheville (15-2, 2-0) at Rock Hill Tennis Center Sunday afternoon in Big South Conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
-Behind nationally ranked duo Henry Patten and Olly Cull, Asheville jumped out to a quick lead with a win at the first doubles position. Alberto Tinagli and Diego Quiroz answered from the third position with a 6-4 win over Quinn Fender and Charlie Morkel, leaving the doubles point to be decided at No. 2. Connor Williamson and Lluis Miralles would go back and forth with Oli Nolan and Sirawit Daosaengsawang with the Bulldogs coming away with the edge in a tiebreaker 7-6 victory.
 
-The tight battles of the doubles point certainly foreshadowed what was to come in singles play as all but two courts went to three sets and five individual sets were decided by tiebreakers.
 
-Aditya Gokhale evened the scoreboard with a straight-set win at No. 5, 6-4, 6-1 over Cull, his second-consecutive victory.
 
-Williamson gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead, taking a three-set win from the No. 2 position over Oli Nolan, including a 6-0 shutout first set.   
 
-In a tough matchup at No. 1, Quiroz and Patten fought to three sets as Quiroz battled back after dropping the first set 6-0 to take a 7-6 tiebreaker second. Patten came away with a 6-3 third set and the match to even the team score at 2-2.
 
-Asheville would secure a team victory with wins on courts four and six. At No. 4, the Bulldogs' Morkel took the first and third sets 6-3, with Tinagli taking the second by a tiebreaker. At No. 6, Miralles pushed both sets to tiebreakers, but Asheville's Leo Bierbaum edged him in both decisions for the straight-set win.
 
-With the team decision decided, Gabriel Dias was not done searching for a win at No. 3. Dias and Daosaengsawang traded 6-4 wins in the first and second, and Dias pushed through for a set tiebreaker win in the third to take the match.     

NOTABLES
 
-Senior Diego Quiroz' career-long win streak is snapped at 10. Quiroz is 11-4 overall on the season, the lone Eagle with double-digit singles wins.
 
-The Eagles' success so far this season has followed the doubles point, winning each of the seven matches in which they have won the doubles point, and losing the eight matches in which their opponents take the opening point. 
 
-Winthrop has experimented a lot in doubles this season, lining up 10 different doubles pairs this season. Today was the first match of the season for duos Gabriel Dias/Aditya Gokhale and Diego Quiroz/Alberto Tinagli.
 
-Winthrop's four remaining matches are all Big South Conference competition.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles return home to Rock Hill Tennis Center for a Big South contest against Radford on Wed., Mar. 27 at 2 p.m.

FULL RESULTS

Singles
1. PATTEN, Henry (AVL) def. QUIROZ, Diego (WIN) 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-3
2. WILLIAMSON, Connor (WIN) def. NOLAN, Oli (AVL) 6-0, 1-6, 6-2
3. DIAS, Gabriel (WIN) def. DAOSAENGSAWANG, S. (AVL) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
4. MORKEL, Charlie (AVL) def. TINAGLI, Alberto (WIN) 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3
5. GOKHALE, Aditya (WIN) def. CULL, Olly (AVL) 6-4, 6-1
6. BIERBAUM, Leo (AVL) def. MIRALLES, Lluis (WIN) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)

Doubles 
1. #2 PATTEN, Henry/CULL, Olly (AVL) def. DIAS, Gabriel/GOKHALE, Aditya (WIN) 6-3
2. DAOSAENGSAWANG, S./NOLAN, Oli (AVL) def. WILLIAMSON, Connor/MIRALLES, Lluis (WIN) 7-6 (5)
3. TINAGLI, Alberto/QUIROZ, Diego (WIN) def. FENDER, Quinn/MORKEL, Charlie (AVL) 6-4