University of Tennessee Athletics
Rea Eliminated in First Round of NCAA Singles Championships
May 26, 2004 | Men's Tennis
May 26, 2004
TULSA, Okla. - Tennessee tennis player Simon Rea's collegiate singles career came to an end Wednesday morning as Georgia Tech's Scott Schnugg eliminated the Vols senior 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Men's Singles Championships at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Rea still has an opportunity to taste NCAA victory, however, as the doubles championships gets underway Thursday.
"Unfortunately, Simon didn't play his best tennis [Wednesday,]" Tennessee associate head coach Chris Mahony said. "I felt like he started to get a little extra juice and a bounce in his step halfway through the second set. But that was a little late, as he was already down a set and a (service) break. Credit goes to Scott Schnugg, who played a very, very solid match.
"Simon had a great career for Tennessee. We'll miss him dearly next year, but we know he'll go on to represent the university well in his future endeavors."
Rea entered the tournament ranked No. 34 in the ITA national singles rankings, while Schnugg was listed at No. 52. Schnugg jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in the first set and never looked back, posting a straight-set round-of-64 victory.
A three-time All-Southeastern Conference honoree, Rea ends his Big Orange singles career with an overall record of 87-46, a 34-22 SEC mark and 19 wins over ranked opponents. The Auckland, New Zealand, native had a winning career record in three-set matches and was ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation among collegiate singles players.
Rea and Vols junior Damien Spizzo put their eight-match unbeaten streak on the line Thursday in the first round of the NCAA doubles championships, where they face the UC Irvine team of Jonathan Endrikat and Brian Morton. Rea and Spizzo are ranked No. 9 in the nation, while Endrikat and Morton are ranked No. 22.
Live online scoring for all NCAA matches is available at www.UTsports.com.
