Clemson Defeats Stetson 6-1

March 14, 2009

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson defeated Stetson 6-1 in a men’s intercollegiate tennis match at Clemson, SC Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Clemson improves to 8-6 overall, while Stetson falls to 10-4 this year.

The Tigers won the doubles point as Kevin Fleck and Ike Belk defeated Stetson’s Mark Mestan and Cesare Gallo 8-5 at number three doubles.

In singles, Clemson’s Carlos Alvarez defeated Filip Kricka of Stetson at number one singles 7-6, 6-2 to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Alvarez is now 7-5 in dual matches this season.

Rok Bizjak defeated the Hatters’ Maksim Levanovich 7-5, 6-0 to give Clemson a 3-0 lead in the match.

Njal Stene of Stetson defeated Kevin Fleck 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 at number four singles.

The number two singles match proved to be the clincher as Gera Boryachinskiy defeated Mestan 7-6,4-6, 6-1 to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead and clinched the match for the Tigers.

Belk won his match for the Tigers with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Gokay Celik at number six singles. At number five singles, Kevin Galloway won over Gallo 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 to give the Tigrs a 6-1 win. Belk is now 13-4 overall in singles and 8-1 in dual match play.

“This was a great win for us against a very good Stetson team,” said Clemson Head Coach Chuck McCuen. “We continue to show progress in finishing our matches after we have a lead. This win today will give us confidence. We have two tough matches coming up and we will work hard in preparing for these matches.”

The 2009 season marks the 100th year of men’s tennis at Tigertown. Clemson first sponsored men’s tennis in 1910 when two Tiger tennis players entered the annual state tournament. The first dual match was played in the 1921 season as the Tigers defeated Wofford 2-0 on April 28, in Spartanburg, SC.

The Tigers will travel to the state of Virginia next weekend for two Atlantic Coast Conference matches. Clemson will play at Virginia on Friday, March 20, at 2:00 p.m. and at Virginia Tech on Sunday, March 22, at 10:00 a.m. in the Tigers’ next action.

This was the fifth meeting between Clemson and Stetson on the tennis courts.

The Tigers now lead the overall series 4-1. Clemson won the first two meetings in the series in 1939 and 1940 and lost to Stetson during the 1948 season. The Tigers and Stetson renewed the series 60 years later and played each other last season with Clemson winning 5-2 in a match played at Mobile, AL.

Clemson 6, Stetson 1Doubles 1. Carlos Alvarez/Rok Bizjak (CU) d. Njal Stene/Christopher Swanteson (S)8-3 2. Filip Kricka/Maksim Levanovich (S) d. Gera Boryanchinskiy/Robert Pietrucha (CU) 9-7 3. Kevin Fleck /Ike Belk (CU) d. Mark Mestan/Cesare Gallo (S) 8-5 Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles 1. Carlos Alvarez (CU) d. Filip Kricka (S) 7-6, 6-2 2. Gera Boryanchinskiy (CU) d. Mark Mestan (S) 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 3. Rok Bizjak (CU) d. Maksim Levanovich (S) 7-5, 6-0 4. Njal Stene (S) d. Kevin Fleck (CU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 5. Kevin Galloway (CU) d. Cesare Gallo (S) 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 6. Ike Belk (CU) d. Gokay Celik (S) 7-5, 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 2, 6, 5