MEN'S TENNIS COMPETES AT ITA SOUTH REGION TOURNAMENT

October 4, 2009

Lions Will Look to Build on Fall Showing

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Saint Leo men’s tennis team learned a lot about where they stand in the region as they competed in the ITA Division II South Region Tournament hosted by Florida Southern College over this past weekend.

The Lions began the tournament on Thursday in rough form as they saw five of their six competitors get swept out of the main draw with junior Richard Maclachlan pulling out the lone win.  The Johannesburg, South Africa native defeat Florida Southern’s Kirk Kucin 6-2, 6-2 to advance in singles competition.

Doubles was no better for the Lions as all three Saint Leo tandems were bounced out of the main draw on the first day.

Day two saw sophomore Yves Jacobs go undefeated in the consolation bracket in both singles and doubles action.  In singles, he easily defeated Florida Tech’s Michael Schmidt 6-0, 6-1 before gutting out a tough 7-5, 5-7 (14-12) win over Rollins’ Andrew Johnson.

And exhausted Jacobs then teamed with Maclachlan, who fell in his main draw battle with Lynn’s Luca Pavanelli, to defeat Florda Tech’s Alfonso Duarte and Joel Zahlan 8-4.  They finished the day with an 8-1 win over Florida Southern’s Javier Castro and Kirk Kucin.

“After a tough first day we rebounded well on Friday,” Coach James Bryce said.  “The guys were more relaxed and focused to play.  In a few matches we were outplayed, but overall we had chances in every match.  Yves went 4-0 on the day and battled hard to win this evening.”

Unfortunately, the good vibes from Friday’s win-streak did not carry over to Saturday as Jacobs fell 6-0, 6-1 in his quarterfinal round match with Valdosta State’s Michael Kuech and he also stumbled in his doubles match with partner Richard Maclachlan, their loss eliminating the Lions from the tournament.

Coach Bryce summarized the trip by saying, “overall we struggled to find any consistency this weekend but I am happy to see the guys compete well.  Now that we are done with competition for the fall we can focus on preparing for the spring.”

The Lions will see their next action as they take to the court to begin their championship season in February.