George Washington University Athletics
GW Men's Tennis Set for Three Weekend Matches
3/31/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
WASHINGTON - The George Washington men's tennis team begins a busy weekend of competition on Friday at East Carolina for the first of three road matches in as many days.
The Colonials (8-7) face East Carolina before visiting No. 63 UNC Wilmington on Saturday and UNC Greensboro on Sunday. The weekend's matches will mark GW's final road contests of the regular season.
Sophomore Chris Reynolds leads GW with a 10-5 singles record this spring, playing primarily at the Nos. 4-5 positions, and has won his last seven contests. Junior Julius Tverijonas is the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after posting a perfect week in both singles and doubles play, competing at the top spot in both. Tverijonas and senior partner Danil Zelenkov own a perfect 6-0 mark at the top doubles slot this spring.
In doubles play, the pair of Vlad Anghel and Fredric Lehfeldt lead the Pirates with an 8-5 mark, all at the No. 2 position.
Last season, the Colonials edged East Carolina, 4-3, as Zelenkov, senior Cahit Kapukiran and sophomore Christos Hadjigeorgiou notched singles victories after GW won the doubles point.
No. 63 UNC Wilmington (8-6) is a perfect 6-0 at home this season and hosts GW after downing Yale and Drexel last weekend. Christiaan Van der Burgh's 9-4 singles record this spring leads the Seahawks, and he has triumphed in his last two bouts. Van der Burgh has paired with Aviv Ben Shabat to post a 9-2 mark in 2016, splitting time between the top two doubles spots.
A year ago, GW upset then-No. 61 UNCW, 4-3, as Kapukiran clinched the match with a come-from-behind three-set thriller in the final match of singles play.
UNC Greensboro (7-8) has lost its last three matches, falling to Samford and No. 57 ETSU last weekend and dropping a mid-week match at Elon. UNCG's top singles player, Connor Thompson, owns a team-best 10-5 record in 2016 and has paired with Daniel Mack for a squad-leading 11-3 mark as a duo at the No. 2 slot.
The Spartans will visit Wofford before hosting GW.
Friday's match at East Carolina is slated for 2:30 p.m. Saturday's bout at No. 63 UNCW will begin at 12 p.m., and Sunday's weekend finale at UNCG will start at 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
