By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – There were solid results across the board for the Tennessee Tech tennis team this past weekend, as several Golden Eagles left it all out on the court at the Grizzly Open hosted by Georgia Gwinnett College.
Six Tech players made the trip south, forming three doubles squads in addition to each participating in singles play.
As has been the case all fall, doubles play kicked off the tournament as the Tech duos of Alberto Esteban and Oleksiy Arovin, Othon Lima and Gagan Jain, and Vasily Eremeev and Artem Tarasov opened play for the Golden Eagles on Friday evening.
All three teams proved to be dangerous outs in the Men's Doubles A Flight. Esteban/Arovin took down the Taylor/Miller connection of Berry College in the first round on Friday evening, 8-5. The Tech duo then came back on Sunday morning to down in-state rival Chattanooga's Brown/Peacey, 8-4, in the second round. The two then battled against the unattached duo of Clements/Verryth in the quarterfinals, ultimately falling, 8-4.
The duo of Lima/Jain also made a run to the quarterfinals, first defeating Blanchard/Markowski of Point University, 8-7 (6), in the first round. They then took down the capable duo of Moore/Marshall from Georgia Southwestern in the second round, 8-7. The two eventually met its tournament end at the hands of the duo of Georgia Gwinnett's Hernan Hatem and the unattached Erik Moberg, falling 8-1 in the quarterfinals.
Not to be outdone, the Eremeev/Tarasov team fought its way to the quarterfinals as well, eliminating Itawamba's C. Ballard/Trice duo in the first round, 8-0. The two then faced off against Reinhardt's D'Avilo/Ramos in the second round, taking down the pair 8-4. The veteran duo took on Georgia Gwinnett's M. Hatem/Tiberti in the quarterfinals, falling 8-5.
Several Golden Eagles showed success in singles play as well. In the Men's Singles A Flight, Arovin knocked out in-state rival Derrick Brown Friday evening, defeating the Chattanooga Moc 6-1, 6-1. Arovin went on to take down Adam Coyne of Alabama State on Sunday morning, winning 8-2 in a pro-style set do to time constraints. The Oklahoma State transfer eventually fell to Tony Kostadinov of Georgia Gwinnett in the quarterfinals, losing 8-6.
Esteban continued his strong play in the fall, defeating Rafael Berghaus of Presbyterian in the first round, 6-2, 6-4. He was then eliminated after a tough match against the unattached Erik Moberg, falling 8-4. Eremeev fell in his first round bout with Georgia Gwinnett's Evgeny Silitski, 6-0, 6-4.
In Men's Singles B Flight action, Jain made a run towards the championship, eventually falling in the quarterfinals. The Nebraska transfer took down the unattached Alex Exted in the first round, winning 8-4 in pro style play. He then eliminated in-state rival and Chattanooga player Gino Delevalle in the second round, 8-6. Jain met the end of his tournament against the unattached Luke Morland, barely falling 8-7.
Tarasov took down his first round opponent, unattached Kevin Lim, 8-3. He would then fall to the unattached Nathan De Veer in the second round, 8-1. In-state foe John Peacey of Chattanooga defeated Lima in the first round, 8-0.
The Tech tennis team will hit the courts once again this weekend, traveling to Elon, N.C. for the Elon Fall Invitational. Play will begin Friday, Oct. 25 and run through Sunday, Oct. 27.
