April 20, 2006
Charleston, S.C. -
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What's On Tap...
The Citadel men's tennis team has solidified their spot in the 2006 Southern Conference Tournament and will square off with a familiar face in their first match. The Bulldogs, who finished the season with a 10-11 record (4-5 in the SoCon), will face No. 3-seed College of Charleston Friday, April 21 at 2 p.m., at the Earle Tennis Center on the campus of The Citadel. The Cougars defeated the Bulldogs in the regular season, 5-2.
Last Time Out...
The doubles point proved to be the deciding factor in Friday's regular season finale for The Citadel and Appalachian State as both teams split the six singles contests. The Mountaineers doubles point victory lifted App. State to their second conference victory of the season while The Citadel missed an opportunity to clinch the fourth seed in the SoCon Tournament next week.
Common Perfection
The NetDogs and the Cougars each have a member of their team to go undefeated in conference play in 2006, the only two players in the conference to establish that feat this season. Sophomore James Eason went 9-0 at No. 3 singles during the 2006 conference campaign and will lead the Bulldogs. CofC was lead by Or Dekel, who also went 9-0 in conference action, playing at No. 1 singles.
Bulldog Tournament History
The Citadel is hosting the 2006 Southern Conference Tournament and is looking to continue recent success. The Bulldogs have won their first match of the tournament the past two seasons. Since the SoCon began the tournament format in 1998, The Citadel is 4-8 in tournament matches, but has won at least one match in two of the past three years. The Citadel and CofC have met in the SoCon Tournament only once, with #1 CofC defeating #8 The Citadel, 4-2, in the 2003 Quarterfinals.
SoCon Championship History
The Southern Conference Championships return to Charleston, S.C., in 2006 for the ninth time and for the sixth consecutive year. In the eight prior years the champ, East Tennessee State has won the SoCon Championship Title three times (2002, 2004, 2005), the College of Charleston has one title (2003), Furman owns one title (2001), Chattanooga holds one title (1982), Appalachian State went home the victors one year (1975) while The Citadel took home the title in the first year the championships came to Charleston (1961).
Eason's Still at Ease
The Citadel's James Eason may have had his 11-match win streak stopped on March 15 when the Bulldogs faced Marquette, but that hasn't slowed Eason down. The sophomore from Christchurch, New Zealand has won his five matches following his loss to Trent Hagan of Marquette and has now won 16 of his past 17 singles matches. Eason's record now holds at 18-3, 9-0 in the Southern Conference with two of his three losses coming at No. 2 doubles against then-No. 25 Clemson and Troy.
Doubly Impressive
If his singles record wasn't something to admire, then surely his doubles record is. Along with being stellar in singles, James Eason has paired up with Daniel Dossetor to form one of the most potent doubles teams in the Southern Conference. The sophomore tandem are now 13-2 (6-2 SoCon) this season. The Dossetor/Eason team have won their past six of their past seven matches heading into Friday's match in Boone, N.C.
Close Call
The Bulldogs have had their share of close calls in 2006 as The Citadel has played in seven matches with a final score of 4-3. That number goes to eight when you included The Citadel's 4-2 loss at the hand of Richmond, where the doubles point was not played.
Topping the Top
The Citadel's Daniel Dossetor continues to play the role of David in the David vs. Goliath match-ups that come before him. Dossetor has won his last two singles matches against ranked opponents (2-1 vs. ranked opponents this season), taking down Charlotte's Roy Sichel (No. 81), 6-1, 7-6 (3), and topping Elon's Damon Gooch (No. 125), 7-6 (5), 6-3. Dossetor's only loss to the Goliath was on Feb. 17 in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 three-set thriller against Clemson's Sander Koning, ranked No. 42.
