NO. 8 ECKERD BEATS NO. 16
PRESBYTERIAN, 5-2,
AT NCAA SOUTHEAST REGIONAL
MIAMI SHORES, FLA. -
The No. 8-ranked Tritons of Eckerd College overcame a 2-1
deficit after doubles play to claim a 5-2 victory over No.
16 Presbyterian College in NCAA Division II Southeast
Regional men's tennis action Friday afternoon. The Tritons
improve to 20-4 on the season, while the Blue Hose end the
season at 14-7.
Eckerd grabbed a 1-0 advantage as senior Sebastian
Niedermayer (Munich, Germany) and senior Nikola
Vujovic (Split, Croatia), who are ranked ninth in the
Southeast region, defeated PC's duo of seniors
Kshitij
Dwivedi
(New Delhi, India) and
Nick
Osborne
(Hutton Rudby, England) 8-3 at the No. 2 flight. However,
the Blue Hose collected back-to-back points to take a 2-1
lead into singles play. PC’s tandem of sophomore
Zach Glankler
(Highland Village, Texas) and freshman
Andrew Lee
(Myrtle Beach, S.C.) defeated senior Sanjar Shodiev
(Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and sophomore David Lopez
(Panama City, Panama) 8-6 at the No. 3 flight. In the final
doubles match, the Blue Hose duo of senior
Hector
Rincon
(London, England) and freshman
Aaron Chapman
(Mount Pleasant, Australia) defeated Eckerd’s No. 2
nationally ranked duo of senior Javier Romero-Barrio
(Madrid, Spain) and sophomore Elmar Koenig
(Stuttgart, Germany) 9-7 at the top flight.
Eckerd’s singles players flexed their muscles as Lopez
pushed past freshman
Patrick Fediuk
(Kimberley, British Columbia) 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 6
position. Niedermayer, who is ranked eighth in Division II,
defeated No. 15 regionally ranked Rincon 6-0, 6-1 at the top
flight to give the Tritons a 3-2 lead. Then Vujovic took
down Osborne 6-2, 6-0 at the third position to give Eckerd a
two-point lead (4-2). No. 15 ranked Koenig defeated Dwivedi
6-3, 6-2 to end the match.
The Tritons will now face host No. 6 ranked Barry, the
second seed and a 5-1 winner over No. 7 seed Carson-Newman
College in the first match of the day, tomorrow in the
regional championship at 10:00 a.m. The regional champion
will advance to the round of 16 at the NCAA Division II
Men’s Tennis Championships in Kansas City, Mo., on May
10-13.
#8 Eckerd College 5, #16 Presbyterian College 2
Singles competition:
1. Sebastian Niedermayer (EC) def. Hector Rincon (PC)
6-0, 6-1
2. Elmar Koenig (EC) def. Kshitij Dwivedi (PC) 6-3, 6-2
3. Nikola Vujovic (EC) def. Nick Osborne (PC) 6-2, 6-0
4. Aaron Chapman (PC) vs. Javier Romero-Barrio (EC) 7-5,
5-6, unfinished
5. Sanjar Shodiev (EC) vs. Andrew Lee (PC) 6-3, 4-6, 3-0,
unfinished
6. David Lopez (EC) def. Patrick Fediuk (PC) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Rincon/Chapman (PC) def. Romero-Barrio/Koenig (EC)
9-7
2. Niedermayer/Vujovic (EC) def. Dwivedi/Osborne (PC) 8-3
3. Zach Glankler/Lee (PC) def. Shodiev/Lopez (EC) 8-6
Box Score