Hornet netters get first tuneup at Grizzly Open
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (bamastatesports.com) – With Alabama State head tennis coach Anuk Christiansz coaching Marine Cartier in the prestigious Oracle/ITA Masters Tournament in Malibu, California, this past weekend, it left assistant tennis coach Richard Seman to take over temporary reign of the squads.
In their first big fall tune up, the men’s and women’s tennis teams held their own and fought to the end as the Hornets competed in the 2016 Grizzly Open hosted by Georgia Gwinnett.
Seman was pleased with how the teams performed against 11 teams such as the three-time defending NAIA men’s National Champions Georgia Gwinnett and their women’s team, who won two of the last three championships at that level.
Other quality programs who competed were Georgia State and Emory.
Ion Efrim advanced to the finals of the A Draw men’s open singles after winning his match against Emory University’s Rex Serituk, but was defeated 7-5, 6-4 by Rafael Coutinho of Warner University.
Senior Takura Mlambo beat Georgia Gwinnett’s Connor Clements 6-7 (3), 6-3, 1-0 (4) to advance to the A Draw of the men’s open singles semifinals where he fell 6-2, 6-1 to Warner University’s Rafael Coutinho.
Tomas Fernandez was a finalist in the B Draw men’s open singles as he defeated Fabian Paier of Tusculum College, but he fell 6-1, 6-3 to his teammate David Siegle.
Efrim and Fernandez each received trophies for being finalists in their draws.
Karlo Skvorc advanced from the quarterfinals of the men’s Consolation B Draw after he defeated Brandon Lewis of the University of Maryland 8-1, but lost 8-2 in the semifinals to Emmanuel College’s Guillaume Watteeuw.
The Lady Hornets ended play Saturday in the women’s open doubles where Mirna Curcic and Gabriela Lackova fell 9-8 (7-1) to Brenau University’s Patricia Recalde and Paula Rives.
“I am happy with our performance as the outcome was really positive. Both teams competed really well and pushed hard all the way,” Seman said.
“We still have a long way to go, but our main concern was getting some quality matches in the fall so it toughens us up for the season. Our freshmen got in some college-level competition and this is a steep climb. College tennis involves a lot of pressures and expectations at the Division I University level. We will now be focusing on getting better and toughening up a little for the championship season.”
Up next, the men’s team will travel to The Big Easy Tennis Classic at the University New Orleans from Oct. 28-30 while the women will travel to the University of Alabama for Roberta Alison Classic from Oct. 28-30.
