Blazers Claim Two 4-3 Victories in Iowa

Friday, February 16

Des Moines, Iowa

2:00 PM

UAB

Illinois State University

Blazers Claim Two 4-3 Victories in Iowa

2/17/2018 10:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Match 1 (PDF) Box Score Match 2 (PDF) Box Score Match 3 (PDF) Box Score Match 4 (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men's tennis found itself in the win column two times on Saturday as the team grinded out two tough 4-3 victories over George Washington and Omaha to cap off an action-packed weekend of tennis in Des Moines, Iowa.

UAB (5-5, 0-1) finished the weekend 2-2 after dropping its two matches on Friday against Drake (4-0) and Illinois State (5-2). The Blazers are now 2-1 in neutral site matches this season.

Sophomore Tim Dollman stole the show for the Blazers, winning three singles matches and leading the fourth before it went unfinished and claiming four doubles victories with partner Stefan Gonzalez. Dollman is now 7-1 on the season in the No. 1 singles spot.

Tom el Safadi claimed two victories in singles play on the weekend to improve his season record to 3-1, while Anru Fourie claimed a 6-0, 6-2 win over George Washington's Kaan Tuna and Giovani Pasini earned one singles victory over Omaha's Luke Moorhead (6-2, 6-1).

Doubles continued to be a strong suit for the Blazers, who won seven of the 12 potential double matches they played in.

UAB's first game of the weekend came early on Saturday against George Washington, jump started by a doubles victory after a win from Dollman and Gonzalez 7-6 (2) and a 6-1 win from Nikolai Manchev and Henry Paiste.

Fourie and El Safadi won the first two singles matches against George Washington to put the Blazers up 3-0. However, George Washington had other plans, cutting the lead to 3-2 with wins on Courts 3 and 4 before Dollman stepped in and clinched the match, 6-4, 6-1, over Chris Fletcher.

The Green and Gold began match two in a similar fashion, taking an early 1-0 lead over Omaha after wins on Courts 1 and 3. The match continued to be eerily similar to the first, as El Safadi (6-3, 6-1) and Pasini (6-2, 6-1) each won their matches to give UAB a 3-0 lead before Omaha rattled off three-straight victories to knot the match up at three games apiece.

With Court 1 the deciding factor, Dollman faced early adversity in his match with Razvan Grigorescu, dropping the first set, 6-2. However, the sophomore showed his grit and won the next two sets 6-2 and 6-4 to win the all-important fourth point and seal UAB's second 4-3 victory of the day.

The Blazers got things started on Friday morning against Drake, fallings to the Bulldogs 4-0. Dollman and Gonzalez claimed recorded the win of the match, taking their doubles match, 5-4 over Ben Wood and Finley Hall.

UAB's second match on day one in Des Moines got off to a better start as the Blazers claimed the opening point of the match over Illinois State in doubles play with wins on Courts 1 and 2 to take an early 1-0 lead. However, the Red Birds rattled off four-straight singles victories to clinch the match.

Dollman scored the only Blazer victory in singles against Illinois State, topping Igo Kolaric 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Green and Gold's 5-2 defeat.

UAB returns to action on March 3 when it welcomes in Eastern Kentucky for a dual match beginning at 10 a.m. (CST). Admission to the match is free.

For more information on UAB men's tennis, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MTEN), Instagram (@uabmenstennis) and Snapchat (@UABAthletics).

Match 1
Drake 4, UAB 0
Singles
1. Tom Hands (DU) vs. Tim Dollman (UAB) 6-3, 0-6, 2-1, unfinished
2. Barny Thorold (DU) def. Giovani Pasini (UAB) 6-3, 6-3
3. Ben Clark (DU) vs. Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
4. Finley Hall (DU) vs. Kenton Parton (UAB) 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
5. Ben Wood (DU) def. Anru Fourie (UAB) 6-3, 6-4
6. Freddie Powell (DU) def. Tom el Safadi (UAB) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles
1. Tim Dollman/Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) def. Ben Wood/Finley Hall (DU) 5-4
2. Ben Clark/Barny Thorold (DU) def. Nikolai Manchev/Henry Paiste (UAB) 6-3
3. Tom Hands/Freddie Powell (DU) def. Kenton Parton/Anru Fourie (UAB) 6-1

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,2,5)

Match 2
Illinois State 5, UAB 2
Singles
1. Tim Dollman (UAB) def. Igor Kolaric (ILS) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. Christoffer Greve (ILS) def. Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) 6-2, 6-1
3. Andreas Boers (ILS) def. Giovani Pasini (UAB) 7-6, 6-2
4. Egehan Sertkaya (ILS) def. Kenton Parton (UAB) 5-7, 6-0, 7-5
5. Manuel Bernhard (ILS) def. Marlon Goering (UAB) 6-3, 6-2
6. Pol Rius Botifoll (ILS) def. Anru Fourie (UAB) 6-1, 0-6, 6-4

Doubles
1. Tim Dollman/Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) def. Christoffer Greve/Igor Kolaric (ILS) 6-2
2. Andreas Boers/Pol Rius Botifoll (ILS) def. Nikolai Manchev/Henry Paiste (UAB) 6-4
3. Kenton Parton/Anru Fourie (UAB) def. Egehan Sertkaya/Manuel Bernhard (ILS) 7-6 (4-0)

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,2,3,6,1,4)

Match 3
UAB 4, George Washington 2
Singles
1. Tim Dollman (UAB) def. Chris Fletcher (GW) 6-4, 6-1
2. Chris Reynolds (GW) vs. Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) no result
3. C. Hadjigeorgiou (GW) def. Kenton Parton (UAB) 6-2, 6-4
4. Jakub Behun (GW) def. Giovani Pasini (UAB) 6-3, 6-1
5. Tom el Safadi (UAB) def. Amlan Sahoo (GW) 6-2, 6-0
6. Anru Fourie (UAB) def. Kaan Tuna (GW) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles
1. Tim Dollman/Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) def. Chris Fletcher/C. Hadjigeorgiou (GW) 7-6 (2-0)
2. Chris Reynolds/Jakub Behun (GW) def. Kenton Parton/Anru Fourie (UAB) 6-2
3. Nikolai Manchev/Henry Paiste (UAB) def. Amlan Sahoo/Kaan Tuna (GW) 6-1

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,5,4,3,1,2)

Match 4
UAB 4, Omaha 3
Singles
1. Tim Dollman (UAB) def. Razvan Grigorescu (Omaha) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Abdoul Ouattara (Omaha) def. Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) 6-3, 7-5
3. Nathan Reekie (Omaha) def. Henry Paiste (UAB) 6-4, 6-1
4. Matt Dunn (Omaha) def. Kenton Parton (UAB) 7-6, 6-4
5. Giovani Pasini (UAB) def. Luke Moorhead (Omaha) 6-2, 6-1
6. Tom el Safadi (UAB) def. Marko Minic (OMAHA) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Tim Dollman/Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) def. Abdoul Ouattara/Nathan Reekie (Omaha) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Razvan Grigorescu/Alex Woodward (Omaha) def. Henry Paiste/Giovani Pasini (UAB) 6-3
3. Anru Fourie/Kenton Parton (UAB) def. Matt Dunn/Luke Moorhead (Omaha) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,2,3,4,1) played in Des Moines, Iowa