Crusaders rally to edge Bobcats, 5-4

TIGERVILLE, S.C. --- Hang Lak Choi (Newton, N.C.) and Taduez Poplawski (Asheville, N.C.) posted a hard-fought 9-7 victory in the second doubles flight on Wednesday afternoon, giving the Lees-McRae College men's tennis team an early 2-0 lead, as North Greenville University rallied from a 4-1 deficit to earn a 5-4 victory in Conference Carolinas play.

Lees-McRae's (0-12, 0-8 CC) duo of Joao Araujo (Curitiba, Puerto Rico) and Carlos Pinel (Vitoria, Espírito Santo, Brazil) kicked off the day with an 8-4 victory over North Greenville's (2-11, 1-7 CC) tandem of Hugo Ciarrocchi and Juan Vargas, before Poplawski and Choi doubled the advantage to 2-0 with a 9-7 win in the second flight against Guilherme Ferreira and Sergio Araujo.

James Klempin and John Melson countered for the Crusaders in the third flight, edging Jesse Artrip (Cleveland, Va.) and Adam Chivers (Wilbraham, Mass.), 9-8 (3-0) in a tiebreak. Joao Araujo answered in the top singles matchup, giving the Bobcats a 3-1 advantage with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Ciarrocchi before Poplawski pushed the lead to 4-1 with a 6-2, 6-1 decision against Ferreira in the second flight.

Klempin cut the margin to 4-2 with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Artrip in the fifth flight, as Melson defeated Chivers, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. After Sergio Araujo evened the tally at 4-4 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Pinel in the third flight, Vargas rallied from one set down to defeat Choi, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to claim the team win for the Crusaders.


- LMC -