University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships
Three Vols Advance in Singles
October 21, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 21, 2011
Photo Gallery 
Tournament Central
Tournament Draws
BY AMANDA PRUITT
UTSports.com
The singles tournament draw at the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships shrunk from 64 to 16 players Friday, and three Tennessee Volunteers earned their way into the remaining field.
Junior Edward Jones and freshmen Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese each won two matches to advance to day three of the five-day event at the Goodfriend Tennis Center and Knoxville Racquet Club.
Reese finished his day with one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, bouncing back after the second set to beat sixth-seeded Charlie Jones of Vanderbilt 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
"He's done great things at Vanderbilt, so I'd heard about him from the other players from the last few years," Reese said. "I'm really happy with that win. I'll take it."
The redshirt freshman, now 5-1 this fall, also added a decisive 6-0, 6-1 win over Butler's Tommy Marx.
Over at the Knoxville Racquet Club, Jones and Libietis made it through their matches in straight sets.
Jones defeated Patrick Elliott of Ball State 6-2, 6-2 and followed that with a 6-1, 6-1 win against MTSU's Matt Langley, who had upset fifth-seeded Jesus Bandres of ETSU earlier in the tournament.
Libietis, the tournament's eighth seed, improved his collegiate record to 8-0 in his first fall season. He beat Tennessee Tech's Vasily Eremeev 6-2, 6-1 then defeated Vanderbilt's Jeff Offerdahl 6-3, 6-4.
UP NEXT
From here, all matches will be played at Goodfriend Tennis Center, and admission is free.
Reese and Jones start their quest for a spot in the singles quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. with Reese playing Louisville's Andrew Carter and Jones playing Tom Jomby of Kentucky. Both opponents are listed as 9-16 seeds.
Libietis is scheduled to play Panav Jha of Kentucky at 2 p.m.
BACK TO DOUBLES
Players took a day off from doubles Friday, but play resumes Saturday with two rounds of matches to start the day.
Libietis and Reese, the eighth seeds, will start against Kentucky's Alejandro Gomez and Panav Jha at 8:30 a.m. in the round of 16. Jones and freshman Brandon Fickey pick up an hour later against ETSU's Jeremy Bonnevalle and Roger Ordeig.
Tennessee had two teams in the regional semifinals last year, with Jones teaming up with Rhyne Williams to form one of those pairings. John-Patrick Smith and Tennys Sandgren were also semifinalists.
USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships
Tennessee's Results
Friday
Singles
Round of 64
[8] Mikelis Libietis, UT, def. Vasily Eremeev, Tennessee Tech, 6-2, 6-1
[17-32] Hunter Reese, UT, def. Tommy Marx, Butler, 6-0, 6-1
[17-32] Edward Jones, UT, def. Patrick Elliott, Ball State, 6-2, 6-2
[3] Josh McTaggart, Indiana, def. Peter Nagovanak, UT, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
[9-16] Gonzales Austin, Vanderbilt, def. Taylor Patrick, UT, 6-3, 7-5
[17-32] Syrym Abdukhalikov, Tennessee Tech, def. Bryan Swartz, UT, 6-3, 6-1
Round of 128
Libietis, UT, def. [17-32] Jeff Offerdahl, Vanderbilt, 6-3, 6-4
Reese, UT, def. [6] Charlie Jones, Vanderbilt, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Jones, UT, def. Matt Langley, MTSU, 6-1, 6-1
Tennessee's Main Draw Schedule
Saturday
Matches at Goodfriend Tennis Center
Doubles
[6] Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese, UT, vs. Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha, Kentucky, 8:30 a.m.
Brandon Fickey/Edward Jones, UT, vs. Jeremy Bonnevalle/Roger Ordeig, ETSU, 9:30 a.m.
Singles
[17-32] Hunter Reese, UT, vs. [9-16] Andrew Carter, Louisville, 1:30 p.m.
[17-32] Edward Jones, UT, vs. [9-16] Tom Jomby, Kentucky, 1:30 p.m.
[8] Mikelis Libietis, UT, vs. Panav Jha, Kentucky, 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
