SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It took six hours to ultimately decide a winner but Kent Shiell earned the final point needed to help the Belmont Abbey men's tennis team prevail with a 4-3 victory over Converse Wednesday evening at the Converse Tennis Courts.
 
The victory maintains the Crusaders' unbeaten record in Conference Carolinas play at 8-0 and it also clinched at least a share of the outright regular season title. It is the second straight year that the team has been able to accomplish that feat.
 
Shiell faced off against Louka Queguiner of Converse in a back-and-forth battle that needed a third-set tiebreaker to decide the winner. Ultimately, Shiell earned the 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win in a match that lasted two hours and 51 minutes.
 
The Abbey entered singles play needing to win four matches after Converse earned the doubles point. The No. 3 doubles team of Alex Turner and Andres Golindano earned the first victory of the day for Belmont Abbey with a 6-3 victory.
 
Nicholas Cary got the first singles point of the match with a three-set win over Paul Berrouet in No. 5 singles with Zachary Blythe winning 6-1, 7-5 in No. 2 singles for the second point. Golindano won his second match of the day with a 6-1, 6-1 win in No. 6 singles over Cameron Davies and have Shiell's match be the difference maker for the Crusaders.
 
Belmont Abbey is now 18-16 overall while Converse is 9-8 overall, 5-3 in the league.
 
UP NEXT
The Crusaders take a break for Easter but will return to the court to face King at noon April 19 at the Reidy Tennis Center.
A victory over the Tornado would clinch an outright Conference Carolinas regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament.
Tuesday's match is also the home finale for Belmont Abbey.