Bulldogs Drop League Road Match at Presbyterian

THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (7-11, 1-5 Big South Conference)
Presbyterian (11-9, 3-0 Big South Conference)
Location: Templeton Tennis Courts / Clinton, S.C.
When: March 27, 2017 / 3 p.m.
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit

CLINTON, S.C.--The UNC Asheville men's tennis team concluded their five-match road swing with a 5-2 loss at Presbyterian College Monday afternoon.

The Blue Hose jumped to an early lead, winning the doubles competition. The No. 2 duo of Brandon Mills and Alexander Lykou defeated Asheville's Reid Dillon and Olly Cull, 6-2. The doubles point was then clinched by Presbyterian when the Bulldogs' No. 3 pair of James Massie and Edward Colclough fell 6-2 to Diego Manzanas and Jaime Castillo-Lopez. Despite losing the doubles competition, the No.1 pairing of Henry Patten and Josh Swindler stretched to a 13-match winning streak with a 6-4 triumph over Presbyterian's Joel Roberts and Ben Kelley.

Singles play began with No. 3 Manzanas defeating Dillon, 6-1, 6-2, to give Presbyterian a 2-0 lead. Asheville's No. 1 seeded Patten remained undefeated, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, over Lykou. Presbyterian continued to extend their lead taking courts No. 4-6. Court No. 4 saw Kelley down Cull, 6-1, 6-2. On court No. 5, Bejar downed Massie, 6-3, 6-3. The No. 6 slotted Castillo-Lopez of Presbyterian bested Sinai, 6-4, 6-3. Competition concluded with the Bulldogs' No. 2 Swindler topping Mills in a hard fought, 7-6, 2-6, 1-0 (4), victory.

BULLDOG BITES
STREAK BROKEN: Heading into last Tuesday's match, freshman Edward Colclough was riding an undefeated four-match win streak to start the season. Against Winthrop he dropped his first decision of the year and is now 4-1.

NEARLY PERFECT PATTEN: Sophomore Henry Patten has had some very impressive performances this season, earning himself the Big South Men's Tennis Player of the Week for matches played Feb. 27-March 6. Patten topped the No. 102 ranked singles player at the time, Scott Webster of Appalachian State, earlier this season. Patten also defeated the No. 66 ranked singles player at the time, Eduardo Mena of Tennessee Tech. The native of the U.K. is now 18-0 in singles play on the year, winning every match but one in straight sets.

STREAKING TO SUCCESS: The No. 1 duo of Henry Patten and Josh Swindler have been phenomenal this season. After today's victory, the top pairing improved to 17-1 on the year and are currently riding a 13-match winning streak.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will return home to host Liberty at the Asheville Racquet Club next Wednesday, April 5, beginning at noon. This will be the final regular-season match for Asheville as well as Senior Day.

QUOTABLES
"Presbyterian were better than us today. They are a good team and we will need to play a lot better if we see them again at the Big South Championships." – Head Coach Tom Hand

Bulldogs Drop League Road Match at Presbyterian

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Players Mentioned

Edward Colclough

Olly Cull

Reid Dillon

James Massie

Henry Patten

Josh Swindler

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics