November 4, 2012

Golden Eagle players get wins at Alabama, Carolinas Invitationals

Members of the Tennessee Tech tennis team notched wins over the weekend at two different tournaments. Two Golden Eagles played at the Alabama Crimson Tide Invitational and two played at the Carolinas Invitational.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Members of the Tennessee Tech tennis team notched wins in both singles and doubles play over the weekend at two different tournaments. Two Golden Eagles played at the Alabama Crimson Tide Invitational and two played at the Carolinas Invitational at Winthrop University.

In Tuscaloosa, Ezequiel Gils claimed a win in singles, then teamed with Alejandro Augusto to capture two victories in the doubles draw.

In singles, Gils dropped his first match to Rens van der Vis of Alabama, 7-5, 6-4, before bouncing back to defeat Simon Bardell of West Alabama, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in the consolation side of the bracket. He was eliminated with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Juan Escobar of Southern Miss.

Augusto was topped by Daniel Leitner of South Alabama in his only singles contest of the tournament.

In the doubles draw, Gils and Augusto opened with an impressive 8-5 victory over Ian Van Cott and Takuma Ohashi of Tulane. The pair fell to Stuart Kenyon and Brian Conlon of Alabama, 8-4, before bowing out.

At the Carolinas Invitational, Vasily Eremeev won three of his contests and captured third place in the Division I singles draw. Eremeev opened with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Adam Knuttson of Gardner Webb, then topped Matt Waissen of Asheville, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. He lost a 6-3, 6-3 match to Lucas Santana (the eventual winner of the bracket), then fought back to claim a tough, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Adrien Rossignon of Campbell for third place.

Artem Tarasov, also playing in the Division I draw, was edged by Rossignon in his first singles match, 6-2, 6-3, then fell to Yuta Hirakawa of Winthrop, 6-1, 6-5. In the consolation backet, Nikita Zverkov of Gardner Webb and Ben Barnette of South Carolina both claimed wins over Tarasov.

Eremeev and Tarasov teamed up in doubles action, losing to Barnette and Harry Menzies of South Carolina, 8-0, to begin the tournament. They came back to top Dylan Comerford and Peter Nagovnak of Winthrop, before losing to Brett Lenegard and Nathan Croker of Asheville, 8-5, to finish play.

The two tournaments were the final action of the fall season for coach Kenny Doyle’s players.