NEWBERRY, S.C. - After a 10-day hiatus, the Newberry College Wolves showed no signs of having any spring break rust as they dominated nearly every facet of the game in an 8-1 victory over South Atlantic Conference foe Lenoir-Rhyne.
With the victory, the Wolves move up to fourth place in the conference with a 3-8 overall mark and a 2-1 SAC record. The Bears, meanwhile, head in the opposite direction and now sit at 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the conference.
The scarlet and gray wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as David Sons (Lexington, S.C) and Vinicius Botelho (Fortaleza, Brazil) took an 8-6 decision from Tommy Brennan and Aroon Khatter. Botelho and Sons picked up their first doubles win of the season in the match.
Michael Saunders (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Mohammed Chakir (Rabat, Morocco) scored their third straight doubles victory and eighth this season by an 8-2 tally against Robbie Blackman and Nathan Helms.
James Bethea (Newberry, S.C.) and Jeffrey Kiser (Newberry, S.C.) were the only Newberry pair to fall during the match, losing to David Jackson and Nate Summer, 8-5.
Leading just by one, the Wolves entered the singles flights and put the quickly put the Bears far into the rearview mirror. Saunders opened up solo play with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Brennan which was good for his fifth victory of 2011.
Botelho pushed his winning streak to four with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Khatter. Botelho leads the squad in wins this season with nine and is on the teams longest winning streak as four matches. Chakir was more than a match for Brandon Dunn, scoring a 6-4, 6-3 victory and pushing his record to 4-5 on the season.
Michael Woolard (Lexington, S.C) was able to easily handle Mayy Gaines, outpacing the Bear by a score of 6-4, 6-2 in order to seal the match. Woolard attained his second win of the season competing in the No. 4 singles slot.
Sons posted a 6-7, 7-6, 10-4 tiebreak victory over Jackson before Kiser picked up his fourth triumph from the No. 6 singles spot in a 6-4, 5-7, 10-5 win over Nate Summer.
The Wolves' next action occurs on the road as the pack travels north to take on the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. The SAC tennis action in Harrogate, Tenn. is set to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 18.
