BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's tennis (7-4) fell in a 5-2 decision to Gardner-Webb (6-8) on Tuesday afternoon at GWU Tennis Courts.
The Mountaineers couldn't get the momentum going on Tuesday falling in two of three doubles matches and four of six singles contests, but the match was much closer than the score indicated. GWU needed a tiebreaking win in the deciding doubles match and a pair of three-set victories to down App. App State could've earned its eighth win of the season if two of those down-to-the-wire matches went in the Mountaineers' favor.
Alex Pavkovich and
Ben Webster was the first team to finish and gave App a leg up in doubles with a 6-0 win over Adam Schmidt and Johan Fors to improve to 7-3 on the season as a tandem. However, GWU claimed the next two matches to hold a 1-0 edge going into singles.
Scott Webster and
Milo Bargeron fell to Millen Hurrion, and Maximilian Scholl, 6-2, before
Alex Brea and
Campbell Stone suffered a tough setback, 7-6 (6-0).
Stone fell to Breno Plentz in the first finished match in singles, 6-2, 6-4, that gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage. GWU claimed a 3-0 lead Ben dropped a 6-2, 6-3, affair to Hurrion in the following match. Scott put the Apps on the board with a 6-2, 6-3, as the No. 1 in the lineup over Scholl to cut the deficit to 3-1. The last three matches were decided in three frames. Brea fought valiantly in his three-set defeat, as he crawled back from a first-set loss in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5) before forcing a third set, 6-3. However, Brea would fall in the final stanza, 6-2, which would seal the win for GWU.
Pavkovich got off to a solid start capturing the first set over Schmidt, 6-4. The hosts' No. 4 then brought home the next two stanzas in a tiebreak, 7-6 (7-5) and 10-5. Bargeron ended the day on a high note earning a hard-fought three-set triumph over Paul Hogan in three sets. Bargeron won the first set, 7-5, and would fall in the middle frame, 7-5, followed by the 7-6 (7-4) victory for his sixth win of the season in singles action.
Appalachian will aim for a bounce-back performance against Stetson on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Deland, Fla.
