Members of the Dalton State men’s tennis teams competed in their first ever NAIA/ITA regional over the weekend.
Adam Hornby and Nikolay Nikiforov made it to the finals in doubles before falling to the number one seed doubles team from NAIA powerhouse Lindsey Wilson from Columbia, KY.
The Roadrunner duo started with a thrilling 9-8 victory over the hosts from Georgetown College. They were down 8-7 with the hosts serving. Hornby and Nikiforov had to overcome the serve and then score two points for the win.
The Dalton State doubles team defeated a team from Lindsey Wilson 8-4 in the Round of 16. Hornby/Nikiforov bested a duo from Campbellsville (KY) in the Quarter Final Round, 8-6.
Hornby and Nikiforov defeated Lindsey Wilson’s number two team in the semi-finals. 8-4. Lindsey Wilson’s number one team, the tournament’s top seeds, then won the doubles championship by beating Dalton State’s representatives, 8-5.
Knocking off some of the best opponents in the country, Hornby was blazing a trail through his singles matches all the way to the semi-finals.
In the opening Round of 64, the sophomore from Christ Church, New Zealand knocked off Austin Colliver from hosts Georgetown College (6-0, 6-3). He then marched past Eduardo Cabrera of the University of the Cumberlands (KY) by the same 6-0, 6-3 score in the Round of 32.
Hornby defeated fellow New Zealander Lochlan Kitchen, representing Bluefield (VA) College, in the Round of 16, 6-0, 6-1. The two Christ Church players know each other, but had traveled half way around the world to meet on the tennis court for the first time.
The Quarter Final Round was grueling and made especially so by the hot and humid conditions.
Number nine seed Andres Burgos of Cumberland University (TN) had eliminated number one seed Ariez Heshaam of the University of the Cumberlands in the previous round.
Hornby and Burgos went 6-2, 7-6. Burgos had led the second set 6-5 before Hornby came back to tie the match at six. Adam started to cramp during the tie breaker.
“I felt it coming on, so I just tried to finish the point quickly,” Hornby recalled. After the victory, he was loaded on the bus and carried to the nearest hospital to be treated for dehydration.
“We were planning on going to the hospital and then coming back to play the semi-finals, but we took too long at the hospital so I couldn’t get back to play,” said Hornby.
“The whole tennis team competed well,” said Coach Zach Rogers. “I was especially impressed by Adam and Nikolay being able to defeat two of the three doubles teams from last year’s number five ranked team in the country. I think it shows the potential for what this year’s team can achieve,”
The Roadrunners open their season on January 17th against the number 75 ranked NCAA Division One team at Quinton, SC.