University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships
Vols End Main Draw Run at Regionals
October 17, 2014 | Men's Tennis
Freshmen Igor Smelyanski and Luis Valero won their morning matches in three sets but lost indoors in the round of 16 at the Currey Tennis Center.
Junior Bartosz Sawicki added to his 11-match team-leading win total. He collected two straight-set victories to reach the third round of singles consolation. Two rounds of consolation are scheduled for Saturday.
Smelyanski started his day with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Purdue's Ricardo Medinilla, a tournament semifinalist a year before.
The freshman from Israel nearly played his way into the quarterfinals with a late reversal of momentum.
Smelyanski took the first set against Vanderbilt freshman Danny Valent in a tiebreaker, but Valent went on a roll early in the second set. At 1-1 in the second set, Valent reeled off eight games in a row to take a 6-7, 6-1, 3-0 lead.
The Commodore served for the match twice with match points at both 5-4 and 6-5 in the third. Smelyanski, his legs and arms cramping, forced a deciding tiebreaker. The Vol had one match point up 6-5 in the tiebreaker, but Valent won three points in a row to secure the 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 victory.
Valero started off his day with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) win against ETSU's David Biosca. He lost his fourth-round match later in the afternoon 6-2, 6-4 to Ben Davis of MTSU.
Senior Hunter Reese, the tournament's defending champion, lost 6-4, 6-4 in the third round to Baker Newman of Vanderbilt. Freshman Jess Jones lost 6-2, 6-1 to Gonzales Austin, the tournament's top seed from Vanderbilt.
All three of the Vols' doubles teams lost in the second round.
The story will be updated when official results are released.
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