NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 7, LaGrange 2
Records: Piedmont, 10-3; LaGrange, 1-2

LaGRANGE, Ga. - The Piedmont men's tennis team fought off LaGrange for a 7-2 road win in nonconference action on Thursday afternoon.

The Lions were able to take two of the three doubles matches, winning one in a breaker, while taking five of six singles lines to pull away late.

Piedmont put the first point on the board in doubles, as SILAS SANDLES and RYAN RAUGH outlasted their opponents with an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles. Moments later, the Panthers evened the match at 1-1 with a win at No. 2 doubles.

That left the duo of PATRICK DEMPSEY and CHRIS BALE, playing No. 1 doubles. As they have in the past, the duo came through in the clutch, emerging victorious in the tiebreaker to swing momentum back to the Lions, giving them a 2-1 lead heading into singles.

Singles action was controlled by the Lions, as they won four of the six matches in straight sets.

Sandles won a key first set breaker and then cruised to a 6-0 win in the second set, giving Piedmont a 3-0 lead. Shortly after Sandles finished, Bale rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3 before BRYCE VANORDER improved his singles win streak to six matches, earning the clincher with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1.

The win marked VanOrder's second at the top spot in the lineup this season.

Down in the lineup, freshman RYAN RAUGH remained unbeaten in singles, with a 7-5, 6-4 hard-fought win at No. 5.

The Panthers battled and took their lone singles line with a win at No. 6.

Up next, the Lions will be back in action tomorrow, with the squad splitting for a two-day, four-match road trip.

Piedmont will take on Mississippi University for Women at 3 p.m. and also battle Berea in the conference opener at 5:30 p.m.

TURNING POINT:
- Much like they did in the Berry match, Dempsey and Bale delivered a big doubles win in the breaker, this time at the No. 1 spot to put the Lions up 2-1 going to singles.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- VanOrder has now won six straight singles matches and is 2-0 at the No. 1 spot.
- Raugh is now 5-0 in his singles career at Piedmont, with wins at four different slots in the lineup.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
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