October 18, 2012

Two Golden Eagles in Memphis for USTA/ITA Regional Tournament

Golden Eagles Syrym Abduhkalikov and Alejandro Augusto will be in Memphis this weekend to play in the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional tennis tournament.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Having already posted several impressive victories this fall in tournament play, two members of the Tennessee Tech tennis team head to Memphis at week's end to compete in the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Tournament at the University of Memphis. The event will be held at The Racquet Club of Memphis..

Coach Kenny Doyle will take senior Syrym Abduhkalikov and sophomore Alejandro Augusto to the tournament. The pair has claimed a variety of wins over ranked opponents in both singles and doubles action this fall, and are looking to bank a few more 'W's' at this four-day tournament that will include players from 21 different schools throughout the region.

The Ohio Valley Regional is a strong one in collegiate tennis, including nine teams that qualified for the 64-team field at the NCAA team tournament last season. Teams scheduled to play include five OVC schools -- Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and Tennessee Tech -- plus teams from Ball State, Butler, Chattanooga, Dayton, East Tennessee, Indiana, IUPUI, Kentucky, Lipscomb, Louisville, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wright State and Xavier.

Abduhkalikov is seeded 17th in the singles draw, and has a first-round bye. His firsts solo match will come Saturday at 11 a.m., against the winning team in a match between Taylor Patrick of Tennessee and Zach Mueck of Xavier. Abdukhalikov has faced Mueck this fall, losing in their contest at the UT Fall Invitational last week.

Augusto, who owns an impressive 9-4 record in singles action this fall, will play his first singles match Friday at 6 p.m., when he's slated to meet Austin Smith of Ball State.

The duo has earned the No. 9 seed in the doubles draw, and has a first-round bye. Already off to an 8-3 start, they will begin play on Friday at 10 a.m. Their opening match will be against the winner in a match between pairs from Wright State (Michael Lyzwa and Lauri Makikalli) and Xavier (Patrick Bandy and Philip Diaz).