Men’s Tennis Advances Two Doubles Entries to Semis

Friday, September 11

Athens, Ga.

All Day

University of Memphis

2015 Southern Intercollegiate

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Men’s Tennis Advances Two Doubles Entries to Semis

Sep 13, 2015 | Men's Tennis

Two Memphis entries fighting for one doubles finals spot.

By: Tammy DeGroff

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Memphis men's tennis team will have one team in the Southern Intercollegiate Division I Doubles finals when they are contested on Monday. The Tigers had two teams win on Sunday to advance to the Monday semifinals, where the tandems will face one another in the second semifinal.

"This was a really positive first tournament for our team," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "Our guys competed very hard and looked like they were ready. I wasn't expecting much with our doubles since we haven't practiced it a lot, but they're really playing some very good doubles now, which is encouraging."

The team of sophomore Ryan Peniston and freshman Felix Rauch easily advanced on Sunday, with an 8-1 win in the quarterfinals against the Kennesaw State tandem of Durham and Wendel. En route the semifinals, the Memphis team has picked up wins over doubles entries from East Tennessee, Clemson and Georgia prior to Sunday's match.

The second Memphis doubles entry of junior Louis Asser and sophomore Kai Lemke advanced to the semifinals with an 8-5 win over the entry of Cerin and Gor from Armstrong State. On their way to the semifinals, the Tigers earned wins over teams from Arkansas and Georgia after receiving a first round bye.

That semifinal will be contested Monday at 10 a.m. (ET) with the championship final to follow not before noon. The last time Memphis had a doubles team advance to the semifinals was in the fall of 2007 when Charlie Ramsay and Amrit Narasimhan won the Division I doubles championship.

Freshman Chris Patzanovsky saw his run in Division II singles come to an end on Sunday in the quarterfinals, falling 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 to the College of Charleston's Charlie Ghriskey, a senior for the Cougars.

"Chris Patzanovsky had an excellent first tournament," Goebel said. "All of our guys played good matches and we now know what we need to work on before our next tournament."

Memphis will next compete in the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American at the University of Tulsa. The All-American runs from Oct. 3-12^th . Andrew Watson is already listed in the ITA Qualifying Round of singles, while fellow sophomore Ryan Peniston is the first alternate in to the second stage of the tournament. Watson and Lemke are also in the qualifying doubles draw. The remainder of the Tiger roster will begin at the opening stage of the All-American, the prequalifying round, Oct. 3-4.

2015 Southern Intercollegiate Championships
Division I Singles
Round of 64
Jannis Koeke (Georgia State) def. Ryan Peniston (Memphis), 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. Eduardo Mena (Tennessee Tech), 7-5, 6-2
No. 8 seed David Biosca (East Tennessee State) def. Felix Rauch (Memphis), 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
Round of 32
Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. No. 8 seed David Biosca (East Tennessee State), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Round of 16
Paul Oosterbaan (Georgia) def. Kai Lemke (Memphis), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Consolation First Round
Ryan Peniston (Memphis) def. Nicholas Guillon (Mercer), 6-1, 6-1
Ryan Peniston (Memphis) def. Emil Reinberg (Georgia), 6-3, 6-4
Johan den Toom (Arkansas) def. Felix Rauch (Memphis), 6-3, 6-4

Division II Singles
Round of 64
Shakeel Manji (Memphis) def. Ozan Cildir (Lander), 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
Louis Asser (Memphis) def. Charles Baron (Lander), 6-3, 6-4
Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) def. Artuto Pinazo (Clemson), 6-1, 6-3
Round of 32
Shakeel Manji (Memphis) def. Manuel Castellanos (Kennesaw State), 6-3, 6-1
Andy Martinez (Georgia) def. Louis Asser (Memphis), 6-1, 6-3
Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) def. Romain Bouodaroua (Florida Atlantic), 6-0, 6-4
Round of 16
Alex Alvaro (Eastern Kentucky) def. Shakeel Manji (Memphis), 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) def. Graham Ball (Stetson), 7-6 (6), 6-1
Quarterfinals
Charlie Ghriskey (College of Charleston) def. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis), 6-4, 6-7, 7-6

Division I Doubles
Round of 64
Peniston/Rauch (Memphis) def. Herrera/Nunez (East Tennessee State), 8-6
Round of 32
Peniston/Rauch (Memphis) def. Harris/Sanon (Clemson), 8-7
Asser/Lemke (Memphis) def. Albanese/den Toom (Arkansas), 8-5
Round of 16
Peniston/Rauch (Memphis) def. Duncan/Wood (Georgia), 8-5
Asser/Lemke (Memphis) def. Montgomery/Oosterbaan (Georgia), 8-3
Quarterfinals
Peniston/Rauch (Memphis) def. Durham/Wendel (Kennesaw State), 8-1
Asser/Lemke (Memphis) def. Cerin/Gor (Armstrong Atlantic),8-5
Semifinals
Monday – 10 a.m. – Peniston/Rauch (Memphis) vs. Asser/Lemke (Memphis)

Division II Doubles
Round of 32 – Regner/Cildir (Lander) def. Manji/Patzanovsky (Memphis), 8-6