CLEMSON, S.C. – The Citadel men's tennis team dropped a pair of matches by similar 7-0 scores on Sunday afternoon in the Upstate. The Bulldogs started the day off at 9 a.m. with a match against Georgia Southern and then closed a long day out at 6 p.m. with a match against Clemson.

Match Information
Location: Clemson, S.C. (The Duckworth Family Tennis Center)
Match 1 Final Score: Georgia Southern 7, The Citadel 0
Match 2 Final Score: Clemson 7, The Citadel 0
Records: Georgia Southern (2-3), Clemson (4-1), The Citadel (0-5)

Match 1 Rundown

• In the day's first match, the Eagles managed to take the doubles point, but not before Gavin Stewart and Zvonko Bencedic pushed their No. 1 doubles match to a tiebreaker.
• Noah Nawabi and Phillip Quinn, and Will Graham and Leo du Plooy also made their opponents work for the victories as both tandems pushed their matches to late points.
• In singles action, both Graham and Bencedic battled hard in their first sets. Graham, at No. 2 singles, fell 7-5 before taking four games in the second set, while Bencedic forced his first set at No. 6 to a tiebreaker, before falling 7-6, 6-2.
• Stewart took five games at No. 1 singles and Jack Pyritz took four games in his No. 5 singles match.

Match 1 Results
Doubles
1. Murphy McCullough / Santiago Suarez (GS) def. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) 7-6
2. Pascal Wagemaker / Jonathan Morales (GS) def. Noah Nawabi / Phillip Quinn (The Citadel) 6-3
3. Alexandros Roumpis / Diego Finkelstein (GS) def. Will Graham / Leo du Plooy (The Citadel) 6-4

Singles
1. McCullough (GS) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 6-2, 6-3
2. Finkelstein (GS) def. Graham (The Citadel) 7-5, 6-4
3. Wagemaker (GS) def. Nawabi (The Citadel) 6-2, 6-1
4. Roumpis (GS) def. Willem van Zyl (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-0
5. Morales (GS) def. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) 6-2, 6-2
6. Valentin Dun (GS) def. Bencedic (The Citadel) 7-6, 6-2


Match 2 Rundown

• The day's final match saw the Tigers win the doubles point by securing victories on court No. 3 and court No. 2. At No. 1 doubles, Stewart and Bencedic again pushed their opponents to the limits, but ultimately fell 6-3.
• In singles action, Clemson jumped out to a quick lead with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2, but their were no easy points.
• At No. 5 singles, Bencedic took four games, while Stewart claimed six games at No. 1 singles.
• Nawabi took seven games from his opponent at No. 3, including forcing the second set to a 7-5 decision.
• Quinn took five games from his opponent at No. 4, and Pyritz rounded out the day's action as the final matchup left on the courts. Pyritz forced his first set to go to a score of 7-5 and then took four games in the final set.

Match 2 Results
Doubles (Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1)
1. Gabriel Diaz Freire / Pierre-Louis Dodens (CU) def. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-3
2. Jacob Jahn / Yizhou Liu (CU) def. Noah Nawabi / Phillip Quinn (The Citadel) 6-2
3. Teodor Giusca / Carlos Kelaidis (CU) def. Will Graham / Leo du Plooy (The Citadel) 6-2

Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, 6)
1. Liu (CU) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 6-4, 6-2
2. Freire (CU) def. Graham (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-2
3. Giusca (CU) def. Nawabi (The Citadel) 6-2, 7-5
4. Jahn (CU) def. Quinn (The Citadel), 6-2, 6-3
5. Dodens (CU) def. Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-3, 6-1
6. Jaxon Wiley (CU) def. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) 7-5, 6-4

QUOTABLES FROM COACH KRIESE
"In the first match, we definitely played tight the entire time. I always have the players approach the matches as favorites and they are only now beginning to get used to that pressure. Georgia Southern is a well-coached team, and later in the day Clemson barely pulled out a win against them; however, I was quite disappointed that we didn't score better against (Georgia Southern). We were completely capable of doing so. Give Georgia Southern the credit for the win, but we absolutely felt that we were on the same power as they were as a team.

"In the Clemson match, every guy played with toughness and grit, but once again, even though the scores were respectable, we never carried the lead. We have to learn how to carry leads and continue to get the work done every day at practice. I've been through (building a program) a lot, and I know that this is the hard times of continuing to believe without seeing, but we are continuing to knock on the door and this is a great group of guys that will not go away. I'm not disappointed at all with the guys and I'm extremely excited about the future."

UP NEXT
The Citadel will next participate in the USC Sumter Invitational, playing in four matches over two days. The Bulldogs will face Eastern Florida State and Benedict on Saturday, Feb. 1, and will turn around and tangle with USC Sumter and Southern Wesleyan on Sunday, Feb. 2.

JOIN THE CITADEL BRIGADIER FOUNDATION
Membership in The Citadel Brigadier Foundation is open to alumni and friends of The Citadel who are interested in supporting Bulldog athletics. By joining, you provide annual charitable contributions that fund scholarships for cadet-student-athletes. Supporters interested in joining TCBF or for more information, please click HERE.

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information and score updates on The Citadel men's tennis team, please visit CitadelSports.com and follow @CitadelMten on Twitter and @CitadelSports on Twitter and Instagram.