MOUNT BERRY, Ga.- The men were back on court for their action-packed weekend as they took on Centre College at the Rome Tennis Center coming away with a huge 5-2 win.
Keeping the same lineup as yesterday, Jake Chapman / Aiden Benoualid at first doubles lit up their stage with their extraordinary shot making and sixth sense, as they were able to read one another's intentions to set up phenomenal points en route to a 6-4 win. Jace Goode / Xavier Deckard at second and Leo Nedkov / Anderson Lambert at third doubles played great tennis but found themselves on the defense too often in their games, resulting in narrow loses to give Centre the doubles point.
Berry needed to win at least four singles matches to come back and win the meet and boy did they deliver!
Jake Chapman led the charge at first singles, winning in straight sets by showcasing his all-court game and proving why he stands as one of the best players in the conference.
Jace Goode at third stayed true to his counter punching play style, holding serve until the very end when he would capitalize on singles break points to win 6-4, 6-4. Leo Nedkov at fourth singles won two tiebreak sets to position Berry College at 3-1 in the match count. It was up to freshmen
Anderson Lambert at fifth and
Xavier Deckard at sixth singles to clinch the win for Berry, and both players went into third sets. However,
Xavier Deckard would be the first to secure victory with exquisite shot-making from the baseline that forced his opponent to over hit, and Anderson followed just behind as he wore his opponent out through grit and determination in some of the longest rallies of the day.
The 5-2 win against Centre secures Berry's spot in the year-end conference tournament and allows the team to breathe easy, as they finish their regular season next Sunday against their neighbor, Oglethorpe University.
