The Lee University tennis teams participated in the 2015 USTA/ITA Division II South Region Championships this past weekend at the Ralph “Skeeter” Carson Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of West Florida and at the Roger Scott Tennis Center. A total of 14 schools from the Gulf South Conference and the Sunshine State Conference were represented.
Competing for the Flames were Jake Okines, Boyd Blackburn, Rhys Milne and Eirik Groner. Krista Good, Marta Garcia-Nieto, Francesca Tondi and Joanna Grzegrzolka were the four Lady Flames to make the trip.
“We brought our teams to this tournament because we wanted to expose them to a high level of competition this fall,” said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. “Our region is the strongest in the country by far, so the pleasing thing for us is that we were able to handle ourselves well.”
The doubles combination of Groner and Okines advanced to the quarterfinal round before losing 8-4 to Gereon Heitmann and Xavi Pineda Botey of Valdosta State University.
The duo began its trek on Friday with an 8-2 defeat of Florida Tech’s Aria Canadell Solana and Gerard Carpinell and finished the day with an 8-6 upset of the top-seeded team of Daniel Riggs and Jose Porfirio (Lynn University).
“For Jake and Eirik to beat the No. 1 seed in doubles was a big step for our men's program,” added Hynes. “They had numerous opportunities to break throughout the match, but weren't able to until the last game. A lot of pairs would have crumbled in that situation, but they were able to stay calm and find a way to get the job done.”
Blackburn and Milne lost their first doubles match 8-3 to Miguel Alvarez-Hevia and Jose De Sario of Florida Southern College. In the consolation bracket, they claimed a 9-7 win over West Alabama’s Caspar Schuetze and Nicolai Jochamowitz before falling to Mississippi College’s Marcos Rocca and Joan Valy, 8-4.
Tondi and Grzegrzolka won their first match 8-3 over Carli Davis and Carlye Goldman of Rollins College and lost 8-1 to Emma Onila and Kimmy Twelker of Barry University.
Garcia-Nieto and Good lost both matches they played. They fell 8-0 to Embry-Riddle’s team of Paula Ortiz Couder and Anna Gotz and were edged 8-6 by Lauren Stuckey and Kayla Hergott of Florida Tech.
In singles action, the Flames and Lady Flames each came away with 1-8 records. Groner defeated Andri Stratiienko of West Alabama (7-5, 6-4) and Tondi earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Carlye Goldman of Rollins.
“Everybody competed well and this really helped us see what we need to address going into the spring. We'll go back to work with both teams and look forward to continuing to improve,” concluded Hynes.
MEN’S SINGLES RESULTS
Jake Okines –
L (7-6, 7-5) vs Oskar Nurmio (SLU)
L (7-5, 4-6, 10-4) vs Laurent Mailoux (FSC)
Boyd Blackburn –
L (6-3, 6-2) vs Chris Wood (UWA)
L (6-2, 6-1) vs Fabian Zierleyn (ERAU)
Rhys Milne –
L (6-4, 6-4) vs Thomas Salmon (PBA)
L (6-2, 6-4) vs Casper Schuetze (UWA)
Eirik Groner –
L (6-2, 7-5) vs Anton Bettink (RC)
W (7-5, 6-4) vs Andri Stratiienko (UWA)
L (6-3, 6-3) vs Xavi Pineda (VSU)
MEN’S DOUBLES RESULTS
Groner/Okines –
W (8-2) vs Canadell/Carpinell (FIT)
W (8-6) vs Riggs/Porfirio (LU)
L (8-4) vs Heitmann/Pineda (VSU)
Blackburn/Milne –
L (8-3) vs Alvarez/De Sario (FSC)
W (9-7) vs Schuetze/Jochanowitz (UWA)
L (8-4) vs Rocca/Valy (MC)
WOMEN’S SINGLES RESULTS
Krista Good –
L (6-0, 6-3) vs Marine Beugre-Guyot (SLU)
L (6-1, 6-3) vs Sasha Nionova (FSC)
Marta Garcia-Nieto –
L (6-4, 6-3) vs Joanna Lario (VSU)
L (7-6, 6-3) vs Maddie Skaras (UWA)
Francesca Tondi –
L (6-2, 6-0) vs Nina Bubelova (UWF)
W (6-1, 6-1) vs Carlye Goldman (RC)
L (6-4, 6-2) vs Anna Gotz (ERAU)
Joanna Grzegrzolka –
L (6-2, 6-0) vs Anastasia Wagner (SLU)
L (6-3, 6-3) vs Valeria Nagovitcina (PBA)
WOMEN’S DOUBLES RESULTS
Garcia-Nieto/Good –
L (8-0) vs Couder/Gotz (ERAU)
L (8-6) vs Stuckley/Hergott (FIT)
Tondi/Grzegrzolka –
W (8-3) vs Davis/Goldman (RC)
L (8-1) vs Onila/Twelker (BU)