Mobile, Al. – No. 5 Dalton State (17-5) knocked-off No. 12 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.), 5-0, Wednesday night in the second round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletic Men’s Tennis National Championship at the Mobile Tennis Center.
“After spending two days in the hotel, we finally got on the court at 9:00,” said DS Coach Zack Rogers. “”The guys wasted no time taking care of business. We played lights out in doubles and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead.”
Edberg Espinoza and Joe Bray def. Fabio Perasso and Raymond Welch, 8-0; Jose Ruda and Sebastian Dartnell handled William East and Abei Da Coasta, 8-3; and Adam Hornby and Nikilay Nikiforov def. Florian Freeze and Caio Barros, 8-4.
Only two singles matches were needed. “Joe played a mistake free match and won 6-0, 6-0. Nikolay found his singles game and closed out the match with a 6-0, 6-3 win. It’s a quick turnaround. Getting off the court at midnight (central time) is not the standard, but we are just happy to have the opportunity to step on the court Thursday and represent Dalton State.”
The remaining six singles matches were left unfinished.
Cardinal Stritch had advanced earlier on Wednesday by beating No. 21 Marian (In.), 5-1.
The Roadrunners will now play No. 4 Northwestern Ohio at 1:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday. The Racers defeated the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Wednesday night, 5-1.
Other second round matches included the No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett men advanced with a second round win over Olivet Nazarene (Il.), 5-0… No. 2 Auburn Montgomery defeated No. 18 Warner (Al.), 5-1… No. 6 Keiser (Fl.) defeated No. 11 William Carey (Miss.), 5-1… No. 8 Coastal Georgia over Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), 5-2; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) bested Aquinas (Mich.), 5-1; and No. 3 Xavier (La.) knocked-off Westmont (Calif.), 5-1.
In women’s play - after victories Wednesday morning, No 9 seed Middle Georgia State and No. 13-seed William Carey were swept, 5-0, in the second round. The Knights fell to Indiana Wesleyan and the Crusaders were eliminated by No. 4-seed SCAD-Savannah.
No. 2-seed Auburn Montgomery made quick work of No. 12-seed Northwestern (Oh.) and No. 5-seed Brenau earned a sweep of Davenport (Mich.). No. 22-seed Mobile fell in the second round to No. 6 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.). Lindsey Wilson def. LSU Alexandria, 5-1. William Woods (Mo.) def. Westmont, 5-3.