Salisbury, N.C.----Wingate University claimed wins over host Catawba College in both men’s and women’s non-conference tennis action on Wednesday at the Johnson Tennis Center. Each Bulldog team won by the score of 7-2 as both clubs improve to 1-0 overall. Both Catawba teams fall to 3-1 overall.

In men’s action, Catawba won both its points in doubles to grab the early 2-1 edge. The Bulldogs went on to sweep the six singles matches for the win. Wingate’s Andrew Owen split sets at the number three singles spot before taking the super tiebreaker. 

The Bulldogs won the other five singles matches in straight sets. In the number one singles flight, Wingate’s Bruno Pudence defeated Catawba’s Alex Macdonald 7-5, 6-2. Pudence and teammate Braeden Patchell were named to the All-SAC squad in the spring of 2009.

The Wingate women swept the doubles and went on to claim four singles wins. Wingate got singles and doubles wins from Kara Stasikelis, Kelli Ferguson, Samantha Alschlager and Ewa Opala. Stasikelis is one of three Bulldogs who earned All-South Atlantic Conference honors last year. The lone Catawba wins came in third set super tiebreakers by Kasia Zielinski and Candace Hall.

The match concludes the fall season for the Wingate teams. The Bulldog women open 2010 by traveling to Davidson College Saturday, Feb. 6 for a 10 a.m. match. The defending South Atlantic Conference regular season champion Wingate men start 2010 on the road as well, venturing to Augusta State University for a 2 p.m. contest Feb. 9. The ASU-Wingate encounter is a men’s and women’s doubleheader.

(Special thanks to Catawba College SID Jim Lewis for providing this story.)

MEN’S MATCH RESULTS
WINGATE 7, CATAWBA 2

Singles
#1 Bruno Pudence (WIN) def. Alex Macdonald 7-5, 6-2
#2 Braeden Patchell (WIN) def. Uri Yarkoni 6-1, 6-2
#3 Andrew Owen (WIN) def. Thomas Mitchell 3-6, 7-6, 10-5 ST
#4 Matthew Lichtenstein (WIN) def. Tom McCormack 6-1, 6-1
#5 Flavio Rathsam (WIN) def. Shaun Bridgewater 6-0, 6-0
#6 Fernando Montemurro (WIN) def. Alex Kalmbach 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
#1 Macdonald/Mitchell (CAT) def. Patchell/Rathsam 8-5
#2 Yarkoni/McCormack (CAT) def. Pudence/Lichtenstein 8-6
#3 Louis Villarroel/Greg Machado (WIN) def. Bridgewater/Kalmbach 9-7
RECORDS: Wingate 1-0 overall, Catawba 3-1 overall

WOMEN’S MATCH RESULTS
WINGATE 7, CATAWBA 2

Singles
#1 Kara Stasikelis (WIN) def. Steffi Cook 6-3, 6-1
#2 Kelli Ferguson (WIN) def. Vanessa Silva 6-3, 6-3
#3 Samantha Alschlager (WIN) def. Jen Denyes 6-4, 7-5
#4 Kasia Zielinski (CAT) def. Zoe Hartas 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 ST
#5 Ewa Opala (WIN) def. Maggie McKee 6-2, 6-3
#6 Candace Hall (CAT) def. Pierce Dillard 6-1, 2-6, 10-4 ST

Doubles
#1 Stasikelis/Ferguson (WIN) def. Denyes/Zielinski 8-5
#2 Alschlager/Hollyn Alberghini (WIN) def. Cook/Silva 8-5
#3 Opala/Dillard (WIN) def. Hall/Jennifer Dameron 8-6
RECORDS: Wingate 1-0 overall, Catawba 3-1 overall