by Brian DeCandia, sports information graduate assistant
FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 12 Georgia College men's tennis team (6-3, 2-2 PBC) was defeated by No. 14 Francis Marion University (6-1, 2-1 PBC) Friday afternoon, 5-4.
GC dug a hole in doubles action, down 3-0. Alex Caspari and Karl Rogers defeated Johan Wadstein (Helsingborg, Sweden) and Jerome Leborgne (Coordimanche, France), 8-6. Tyler Franks (Greensboro, Ga.) and Leo Bernardes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) dropped their second slot match to Oshada Wijemanne and Mickey Poirier, 8-4. Tobias Rausch (Mannheim, Germany) and Robert Angelucci (Acworth, Ga.) fell to Tim Ruepke and Dirk Bair, 8-4.
The Bobcats dominated in singles play, 4-2 but it was not enough. No. 3 Wijemanne defeated Wadstein, 6-3, 6-3. No. 16 Leborgne gave GC a second singles victory this afternoon, dropping Ruepke, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 10-7. Leborgne improves to 4-5 on the season. In the third slot, Bernardes fell to Caspari, 6-2, 7-5.
Rausch improved his record to a team-best 7-2 with a win over Rogers, 6-4, 6-3. Franks downed Bair in a three set marathon, 5-7, 6-0, 10-2. In the sixth spot, Wictor Andersson (Karlskoga, Sweden) dropped Francis Marion's Jack Bishop in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Andersson is now 4-1, all in the sixth slot.
The 'Cats will return home to play Concord University Tuesday, March 8 at 2 p.m.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, back-to-back winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.
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