University of Georgia
Southern Intercollegiate Championships
Georgia Perfect In Singles On Day One
September 24, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 24, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia men's tennis team saw all eight players advance in singles play on day one of the 43rd annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Southern Collegiates is the oldest fall tournament in the nation, originating in 1968.
"We had a terrific day today, winning eight of eight singles matches," said head coach Manuel Diaz, a two-time winner of the Southern Collegiates as a Bulldog player. "Our guys were impressive and we were very pleased with the level of play and the intensity on the court. Everybody was excited in a positive way."
"We played pretty good in doubles - we need some more doubles matches under our belt and maybe need to take doubles practice more seriously. Today we learned that we need to improve in certain areas but overall are pleased with the effort. The guys understand what we need to be working on, and we are looking forward to getting down to work and making progress."
Second-seeded Javier Garrapiz advanced with a 6-1 win in the first set over Campbell's Larbi Lamzouri, before Lamzouri retired due to injury trailing Garrapiz 5-2 in the second. The senior and reigning singles co-champion will take on Georgia State's Vincent Verpeaux Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. The No. 7 seed Drake Bernstein cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over David Henry of Memphis and advances to take on Joe Schafer of Davidson in the second round tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Junior Sadio Doumbia defeated Yannick Yshizawa of South Florida, overcoming a 7-5 first set deficit to win the next two 6-1 and 6-2 to stake his place in the next round in his first official match in Bulldog red. Doumbia will take on Florida's Andrew Butz tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Georgia's final player in the Division I flight was junior Wil Spencer, who defeated Memphis' Jordan Smith by scores of 6-1 and 6-2. He will face Samford's Zac Dunkle tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
In Division II singles for the Dogs, freshman Campbell Johnson defeated LSU's Cody Loup, 6-1, 6-2, and will take on Daniel Moser of UAB tomorrow at noon. Fellow rookie Hernus Pieters beat UNCW's Kosta Blank in his debut, using scores of 6-4, 6-2 to earn his second round spot. Pieters will meet Wofford's Michael Schecter at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Junior Ignacio Taboada continued the hot streak for Georgia as he notched a 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Radford's Paul Boslet to move on. He will face South Florida's Romain DeRidder tomorrow at 1 p.m. Freshman Garrett Brasseaux rounded out Georgia's perfect singles outing as he logged a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Elliot Barnwell of Middle Tennessee to move on. Brasseaux will take on Santiago Nieto of Miami tomorrow at 2 p.m.
In doubles, Georgia saw split results with two wins and two losses on opening day. The No. 4-seeded team of Garrapiz and Pieters received a first-round bye and defeated Davidson's Joe Schafer and Calum Gee, 8-5, in the second round to move on. They will take on South Carolina tomorrow not before 5 p.m.
The team of Bernstein and Spencer also defeated their opponents by an 8-5 score, knocking off Alabama's Jarryd Botha and Trey Walston in second-round action. They take on Samford tomorrow not before 5 p.m.
The junior tandem of Doumbia and Taboada fell, 8-4, to Stetson, while the freshmen Brasseaux and Johnson were bested 8-1 by Eastern Kentucky.
Play resumes Saturday at 8 a.m., beginning with Division III singles at the UGA intramural fields. The tournament continues through Monday with a champion to be named from each of the five divisions.
The 2010 tournament features over 200 players from 34 schools: Alabama, UAB, Campbell, Central Florida, Chattanooga, College of Charleston, Davidson, Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee State, Elon, Florida, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Liberty, Lipscomb, LSU, Memphis, Mercer, Miami, Middle Tennessee State, UNC Wilmington, Radford, Samford, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Stetson, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt, Winthrop, and Wofford.
Georgia players have won 16 singles crowns at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships, including four of the last five. Bulldog doubles teams have won 18 titles. In 2009 Garrapiz was named co-champion in the singles bracket along with Georgia Tech's Guillermo Gomez after inclement weather shortened the event.
The draw will be updated throughout the weekend and posted to Georgiadogs.com.
GEORGIA SATURDAY SCHEDULE
Singles
- Doumbia vs. Butz 9:30 a.m.
- Bernstein vs. Schafer 10 a.m.
- Spencer vs. Dunkle 10:30 a.m.
- Garrapiz vs. Verpeaux 11:30 a.m.
- Johnson vs. Moser 12 p.m.
- Taboada vs. DeRidder 1 p.m.
- Pieters vs. Schecter 1:30 p.m.
- Brasseaux vs. Nieto 2 p.m.
Doubles
- Garrapiz/Pieters vs. South Carolina not before 5 p.m.
- Bernstein/Spencer vs. Samford not before 5 p.m.
