University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Southern Intercollegiate Championships
Vols Advance to Doubles QF in Athens
September 13, 2014 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. -- Tennessee senior Andrew Dromsky and freshman Igor Smelyanski advanced to the doubles quarterfinals Saturday at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Dromsky and Smelyanski defeated Virginia Tech's Jai Corbett and Florian Nicoud 8-5 in the morning before rainy weather delayed matches for the rest of the day, moving some matches indoors.
The Vol duo will face Georgia's team of Eric Diaz and Austin Smith on Sunday.
Tennessee's freshmen trio, all winners in their debuts, lost to seeded players during Saturday's competition.
Jess Jones won his second-round match after ETSU's Rogerio Ribeiro 6-2, 7-5 to set up a late-evening tilt against the top-seeded Alex Alvarez Llamas of Oklahoma, who is ranked third nationally. Jones pushed Alvarez Llamas in the second set but lost 6-2, 7-5.
Smelyanski and Luis Valero lost in three sets in their second round matches. Smelyanski lost 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3 to 16th-seeded Aron Hiltzik of Illinois, and Valero fell to 13th-seeded Cristian Gonzalez Mendez of Florida State 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
LIBIETIS, GULBIS WIN FOR LATVIA
In Latvia, senior Mikelis Libietis kept Latvia's hopes alive in its Davis Cup match against Austria. He and top-20 singles player Ernests Gulbis ousted the doubles specialist team of Alexander Peya and Phillipp Oswald 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Latvia trails Austria 2-1 heading into the final day of competition, which features two singles matches.
Saturday marked the first competition for Libietis since winning the NCAA doubles title with Hunter Reese in May.
The victory was certainly a big one as far as ranking was concerned. Peya is currently ranked No. 6 in the ATP World Tour doubles rankings and Oswald is No. 46.
Libietis is now 2-0 in his career in Davis Cup doubles, having won a match with Gulbis last year. He is not scheduled to play singles Sunday but could come in as a substitute for one of the matches.
Southern Intercollegiate Championships
Saturday's Results
Division I Singles
Round of 32
Jess Jones (Tennessee) def. Rogerio Ribeiro (ETSU) 6-2, 7-5
#103 [13] Cristian Gonzalez Mendez (Florida State) def. Luis Valero (Tennessee), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
[16] Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. Igor Smelyanski (Tennessee), 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3
Round of 16
#3 [1] Axel Alvarez Llamas (Oklahoma) def. Jones (Tennesse), 6-1, 6-4
Division I Doubles
Round of 16
[5] Andrew Dromsky/Igor Smelyanski (Tennessee) def. Jai Corbett/Florian Nicoud (Virginia Tech), 8-5
[3] Christopher Eubanks/Nathan Rakitt (Ga. Tech) def. Bartosz Sawicki/Luis Valero (Tennessee), 8-4
Division II Singles
Round of 32
Daniel Hernandez (Lipscomb) def. Sunay Bhat (Tennessee), 7-5, 6-2
