By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
ATHENS, Ga. – The Tennessee Tech men's tennis started its fall slate with some excellent performances at the Southern Intercollegiate Championship, hosted by the University of Georgia.
A total of 170 singles players and 81 doubles teams competed in this year's event, and the Tech players had some great moments in the 49th annual event.
Eduardo Mena, ranked No. 93 on the fall ITA rankings, picked up two wins in the Division I singles tournament, defeating Armstrong State's Jan Porteset 7-6, 6-2 in the round of 64, then taking out Texas Tech's Jolan Caileau, ranked 95
th on the ITA poll, in three sets – 6-4, 3-6 and 7-5.
But Mena's singles run ended as the host's Emil Reinberg, ranked 109th on the ITA list, defeated Tech's ace 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.
Jorge Alfonzo reached the semifinals of the Division III singles tournament, defeating Bjorne Kurtze from Armstrong State (6-3, 7-5), Eastern Kentucky's Diego Asis (6-3, 7-5) and Alex Garcia from UNC Charlotte (6-3, 4-6, 6-4).
His singles run, however, came to a close in the semis, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to Kennesaw State's Sam Slade.
The doubles pairing of
Marcos Bernardes and
Guillermo Nicolas picked up two victories, defeating Eastern Kentucky's Sebastian Mueller and Guillem Sanchis (7-6) and UNC Charlotte's Oriol Puig and Alex Garcia (6-4), but the Tech duo fell in the quarterfinals to Clemson's Christian Harris and Sam Edwards in a 6-1 defeat.
Bernardes also had a strong showing in singles, reaching the Division II round of 16 with victories over East Tennessee's Weceslao Albin (6-3, 6-4), Arkansas' Austin Robles (6-3, 6-2), Ole Miss' Robert Mounger (6-3, 6-1), before falling to Louisville's George Hedley in a 6-3, 6-4 decision.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday as they compete in the ITA All-American Pre-qualifying event at the University of Tulsa.
The complete list of results from this weekend's Southern Intercollegiate Championship is below.
Friday
Division I singles – round of 64
Eduardo Mena def. Jan Porteset (Armstrong State), 7-6. 6-2
Spencer Papa (Oklahoma) def. Alberto Esteban 6-3, 6-2
Division I singles – round of 32
Eduardo Mena def. Jolan Caileau (Texas Tech), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Division II singles – out matches
Marcos Bernardes def. Wenceslao Albin (East Tennessee State), 6-3, 6-4
Division II singles – round of 64
Guillermo Nicolas def. Stefano Puga (Gardner-Webb) 6-3, 6-3
Marcos Bernardes def. Austin Robles (Arkansas) 6-3, 6-2
Division II singles – round of 32
Sam Swank (South Carolina) def. Guillermo Nicolas, 7-6, 6-1
Marcos Bernardes def. Robert Mounger (Ole Miss), 6-3, 6-1
Division III singles – round of 32
Jorge Alfonso def. Bjorne Kurtze (Armstrong State), 6-3, 7-5
Division III singles – round of 16
Jorge Alfonso def. Diego Asis (Eastern Kentucky), 6-3, 7-5
Saturday
Division I doubles -- round of 64
Baker Newman/Panu Virtanen (Vanderbilt) def. Carlos Tajes/Jorge Alfonzo, 6-1
Division I doubles – round of 32
Marcos Bernardes/Guillermo Nicolas def. Oriol Puig/Alex Garcia (UNC Charlotte), 6-4
Division II doubles – round of 32
Carlos Tajes/Jorge Alfonzo def. Scotty Cameron/Wood Benton (South Carolina), 6-4
Division I singles – round of 16
Emil Reinberg (Georgia) def. Eduardo Mena 7-6, 3-6, 7-6
Division II singles – round of 16
George Hedley (Louisville) def. Marcos Bernardes 6-3, 6-4
Division III singles -- quarterfinals
Jorge Alfonzo def. Alex Garcia (UNC Charlotte) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Division III singles – semifinals
Sam Slade (Kennesaw State) def. Jorge Alfonzo 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Division I singles – consolation
Max Scholl (Gardner-Webb) def. Alberto Esteban, withdrew
Division III singles – consolation
Carlos Tejas def. Vikram Charl (Vanderbilt), withdrew
Division II doubles – round of 64
Marcos Bernardes/Guillermo Nicolas def. Sebastian Muller/Guillem Sachis (Eastern Kentucky), 7-6
Sunday
Division III singles – consolation
Carlos Tejas def. Durham (Kennesaw State), 6-2, 7-6
Division II doubles – round of 16
Austin Robles/Johan den Toom (Arkansas) def. Carlos Tajes/Jorge Alfonso 6-1
Division II doubles – quarterfinals
Christian Harris/Sam Edwards (Clemson) def. Marcos Bernardes/Guillermo Nicolas 6-1
Photo by Tony Marable