The Tech men’s tennis team competed over the weekend in the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Tournament at the University of Memphis.
The tournament took place over a four-day span, including players from 21 different schools throughout the region.
“They’ve all been working hard since the spring season, and these events give them a chance to weigh-in on their play at the regional and possibly national level,” Kenny Doyle, head coach, said.
Top ranked Tennessee Tech tennis players senior Syrym Abdukhalikov and sophomore Alejandro Augusto each competed in both singles and doubles matches in the tournament. Both claimed victories in their singles play in Flight “A” action.
Abdukhalikov earned a first-round bye in his singles bracket and then defeated Zach Mueck of Xavier University in two straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the next round. He then went up against the University of Kentucky’s Tom Jomby, where he was defeated by the exact same scores, 6-3, 6-4. Abduhkalikov is seeded 17th in the singles draw for the fall season.
Augusto was unseeded but quickly advanced in the tournament with a 6-0, 7-6 victory over Austin Smith of Ball State University. He then advanced to face top-seeded Mikelis Libietis of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The games were very close in competition but ended with a 6-2, 6-4 win for Augusto. This leaves him with an impressive 10-4 record in singles action for this year’s fall season.
The pair has claimed many wins over top ranked opponents in both singles and doubles matches this fall. In doubles play the duo had earned the No. 9 seed for the tournament. This gave Abdukhalikov and Augusto a bye in their first round. For their first match they faced Michal Lyzwa and Lauri Makikalli of Wright State University. The match was close, going to a tiebreaker before the Tech combo was dealt a 9-7 loss.
In Flight “B” singles action, Vasily Eremeev dropped his first match Friday but fought all the way back to earn victories over players from Austin Peay, Kentucky and Youngstown State University in the consolation bracket to reach the finals. He suffered a 6-2 loss Sunday in the first set to Youngstown’s Max Schmerin but worked his way back to tie the contest with a 6-2 win in the second. In the third, Eremeev took a 10-8 cliffhanger to win the championship.
Tech will close the fall portion of the 2012-2013 season in two weeks with players competing in two different tournaments Nov. 2-4. Some will play in the Alabama Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, and some will play at the Carolinas Invitational at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.
