MSC Championship Central

GEORGETOWN, Ky. – For the third straight season, the third-seeded University of Pikeville men's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the Mid-South Conference Championship with a 5-1 win over No. 6-seed Georgetown (Ky.) on Thursday at the Lackey Tennis Center.

The Bears advance to play No. 2-seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 2 p.m. on Friday with a spot in Saturday's championship match on the line. The Blue Raiders won 5-0 over No. 7-seed St. Catharine (Ky.) in the quarterfinals.

UPIKE's only loss to the Tigers came at the top doubles spot where GC's Gustavo Echeverria and Ryne Least topped Felix Singer and Pawel Tarasewicz 9-8 (3). After the hard-fought match that went to a tie-breaker, the Bears cruised in the final two doubles matches.

Marcos Fondelius and Sven Rodenbusch won 8-1 against Chris Bartlett and Jacob Loveland at No. 2, while Francois Billet and Connor Smith won 8-3 against Josh Clay and Ryan Simms at No. 3.

With matches being stopped at five wins in the postseason, Pikeville was able to wrap things up with wins at Nos. 1, 3 and 4 singles. Billet won his second match of the day with a 6-3, 6-2 decision against the third-seeded Bartlett and Singer made it a 4-1 Bear lead after topping Loveland 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4.

Sven Rodenbusch tallied the final win in short order as Echverria retired after losing the first set 6-2 at the top singles spot.

MSC awards were handed out prior to the matches and UPIKE's Sven Rodenbusch was named First Team All-MSC, while Dmitry Babenkov and Billet were second-team selections. Conference coaches selected the teams by a vote and were not allowed to vote for their own players.

The No. 8-seed UPIKE women's program was knocked out of the MSC Tournament in the quarterfinals with a forfeit loss to top-seeded Lindsey Wilson.
 
 

UPIKE 5, Georgetown (Ky.) 1

April 24, 2014 at Lackey Tennis Center (Georgetown, Ky.)

 
Singles
1. Sven Rodenbusch (UPIKE) def. Gustavo Echeverria (GC) 6-2, Retire
3. Francois Billet (UPIKE) def. Chris Bartlett (GC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Felix Singer (UPIKE) def. Jacob Loveland (GC) 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Echeverria/Ryne Least (GC) def. Singer/Pawel Tarasewicz (UPIKE) 9-8 (3)
2. Marcos Fondelius/Sven Rodenbusch (UPIKE) def. Bartlett/Loveland (GC) 8-1
3. Billet/Connor Smith (UPIKE) def. Josh Clay/Ryan Simms (GC) 8-3


Match Notes
Pikeville: 15-6, 5-2 MSC; National Ranking: No. 21
Georgetown: 7-12, 2-5 MSC; National Ranking: UR