University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Men's Tennis Puts Two Doubles Teams in Semis
Oct 21, 2017 | Men's Tennis
Both remaining doubles tandems in ITA Regional semifinals.
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team advanced both of its remaining doubles entries to the semifinals of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional with a pair of Saturday morning wins at the University of Tennessee. The two remaining teams will play their respective semifinal matches at 9:30 Sunday morning.
The number three seeded team of Kai Lemke and Matt Story opened their morning with an 8-2 win over the Butler team of Sam Sullivan and Mason Dragos to advance to the quarterfinal round. There, the duo prevailed in an 8-7 thriller over the East Tennessee pairing of Frazier Rengifo and Juan Lugo to advance to the semis.
In Sunday morning's first semifinal, Lemke and Story will face top seeded Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe of Vanderbilt at 9 am.
In the bottom half of the draw, the Memphis pairing of Jan Pallares and Felix Rauch opened their morning with an 8-3 win over the talent of Daniel Valent and Panu Virtanen of Vanderbilt to advance to the quarterfinals. The duo then used an 8-5 decision over the Indiana team of Raheel Manji and Keivon Tabrizi to push through to the semifinals in the bottom half of the draw.
On Sunday, that Memphis duo will face second seeded Parker Wynn and Christopher Kougoucheff of Louisville, also at 9 am.
In consolation singles, Matt Story was Memphis' only remaining singles entry. Having played two doubles matches to start the day, he defaulted his singles match to begin recovery for his doubles matchup in the championship draw, Sunday.
The ITA Ohio Valley Regional is the final collegiate competition of the fall for the men's tennis team. Players will have the opportunity to compete in the Birmingham USTA Futures Event, Oct. 28-Nov. 1 to try to earn ATP points before the semester break.
The number three seeded team of Kai Lemke and Matt Story opened their morning with an 8-2 win over the Butler team of Sam Sullivan and Mason Dragos to advance to the quarterfinal round. There, the duo prevailed in an 8-7 thriller over the East Tennessee pairing of Frazier Rengifo and Juan Lugo to advance to the semis.
In Sunday morning's first semifinal, Lemke and Story will face top seeded Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe of Vanderbilt at 9 am.
In the bottom half of the draw, the Memphis pairing of Jan Pallares and Felix Rauch opened their morning with an 8-3 win over the talent of Daniel Valent and Panu Virtanen of Vanderbilt to advance to the quarterfinals. The duo then used an 8-5 decision over the Indiana team of Raheel Manji and Keivon Tabrizi to push through to the semifinals in the bottom half of the draw.
On Sunday, that Memphis duo will face second seeded Parker Wynn and Christopher Kougoucheff of Louisville, also at 9 am.
In consolation singles, Matt Story was Memphis' only remaining singles entry. Having played two doubles matches to start the day, he defaulted his singles match to begin recovery for his doubles matchup in the championship draw, Sunday.
The ITA Ohio Valley Regional is the final collegiate competition of the fall for the men's tennis team. Players will have the opportunity to compete in the Birmingham USTA Futures Event, Oct. 28-Nov. 1 to try to earn ATP points before the semester break.
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