Radford Downs Top-Seeded Gardner-Webb to Reach Finals, 4-2
BLACKSBURG, Va. – After falling behind 1-0, the Radford men's tennis team won four of the final five points to come back and take down top-seeded Gardner-Webb, 4-2, in the semifinals of the Big South Championship.
BOX SCORE
The win propels Radford to its 16th victory of the season and its first Big South Championship semifinal win since the 2012 season.
Gardner-Webb took the doubles point and kept the momentum going into singles competition. They held a lead through the first four or five points in the first set, but then the tide started to turn in favor of the Highlanders.
Courts 3-6 play started to pick up for Radford and all of them won the first set. Andres Silva (court 6) was the first Highlander to claim the second set and tie the match at one. Alexandros Caldwell, competing on court 3, gave Radford a 2-1 edge with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Pierre-Olivier Lassalle moved Radford one point closer to clinching with a 6-3, 6-2 win on court 5 over Joahn Fors. However, the regular season champs didn't go down without a fight. The 124th ranked player in the country, Maximilian Scholl defeated Yevhen Sirous on court 1.
With two courts left playing, Michiel Meekers was in control of court 4, while Rodrigo Magalhaes was making a comeback on court 2. Just when Magalhaes evened his court at 5, Meekers clinched the point and the match for Radford.
No. 1 Gardner-Webb only lost one conference match during the regular season and it came at the hands of Radford. Meekers and the boys defeated Gardner-Webb for second time this season and improved to 3-0 against the Runnin' Bulldogs all-time in the Big South Championship.