DUE WEST, SC - Erskine College Junior Velislav (Villy) Iltchev of Winston-Salem, N.C., beat the No. 1 seeded Cory Robinson of Barton to win the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference singles title at the CVAC tournament in Charlotte over the weekend.

Iltchev, who plays in the first (top) flight, entered the competition with a 8-0 conference singles record and the No. 2 seed for the tournament. Robinson was also undefeated in the conference at 9-0. The two did not meet during the regular season due to the match between Erskine and Barton being rained out.

Robinson entered the match ranked as the No. 12 division II men's player in the country. New rankings are due out in the next week and Iltchev is expected to enter the top 20.

Iltchev earned a bye in the first round and then knocked off No. 7 seed Mark Becker of Coker College in the second round 6-0, 6-0. The semifinals pitted Iltchev against No. 3 seed Patric Hynes of Lees-McRae College with Iltchev winning in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

The much anticipated final did not disappoint. Robinson took the first set 6-2 with Iltchev fighting back in the second set 6-4. Iltchev was able to hold serve after a service break to take the set, match and title 6-4.

The conference title is his second in two years. Last year, Iltchev won the CVAC doubles title with Art Wood of Stone Mountain, Ga., and finished ranked 18th in NCAA division II doubles. Wood now coaches the Erskine women's tennis team.

Iltchev, originally from Greece, was recruited out of the Rabun Gap Nacoochie School in Rabun Gap, Ga., and is a candidate to be named as an Academic All-American later this year.

In other action, freshman Matt McKenzie of Irmo finished a surprising third in the second flight. McKenzie entered as the No. 5 seed. He knocked off the No. 4 seeded Jason Woodsby of Lees-McRae College 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 in the second round after a first round bye. After a semifinal loss (6-2, 6-0) to No. 1 seed and eventual flight winner Pekka Pohjamo of High Point University, McKenzie beat the No. 3 seeded Gauthom Karthick of Pfeiffer University for third place.

Overall, the team finished in fifth place in the 11 team tournament, only two points behind Pfeiffer. Lees-McRae took third place and Barton edged High Point by one point for the conference title.

"I'm proud of our team," head coach Vardon Cox said. "We did well for such a young team." The eight member team has no seniors and Iltchev is the only junior.

Cox recently celebrated his 300th match win earlier in April with a victory over conference foe Coker. Cox's record stands at 300-204.