Men's Tennis Opens Season with Strong Performance at UTD Invite

RICHARDSON, Tex. - The Austin College Men's Tennis Team participated in their first tournament of the year on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas.  Other participants besides the Kangaroos and Comets were the Texas A&M University - Texarkana Eagles and the Dallas Baptist Patriots.

The 'Roos opened the night with a dominant performance over TAMU-T, taking four-out-of-five flights and both doubles flights.  Safe Rahman earned his first collegiate victory over Kendall Murray in spectacular fashion.  After falling behind 2-9 in a super-tiebreaker for the third set, the Freshman 'Roo won the next nine points-in-a-row to win 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 (9).

Siddharth Kortikere also earned his first victory in a third set super-tiebreaker; winning in less dramatic fashion, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 (6).  In doubles action, Pieter Cabato teamed up with Senior Jeff Kubena to win 8-6 in the Line 2 Doubles spot over the Eagles for his first collegiate doubles victory.

Saturday began as a landmark day for the Kangaroos, as the Men's Team squared off against the Dallas Baptist University Patriots, having been rained out of their match-up in the Spring of 2016.

Preston Glasscock took the Line 1 Singles flight against Gilmore in a third set super-tiebreaker 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (4), while Kortikere and Rahman would follow up their spectacular singles victories from the night before with doubles wins.  Kortikere teamed with Kenneth Hardy for a 6-1, 6-0 win over Jackson and Childs, and Rahman paired with Morgan for a 6-2, 7-5 win over Delao and Cantu.

The final match-up of the tournament pitted AC against the UTD Comets.  The comets would take 4-out-of-five flights, but Granberry would defeat Ryan Morton in a third set super-tiebreaker for the lone AC triumph.

The Men will travel in two weeks to the ITA Southwest Regional Championships in Tyler, TX on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler.  Qualification Rounds begin on Friday, September 30th, while main draw singles and doubles begin at 8:00am on Saturday, October 1 and continue through Monday, October 3.

Flight 1 Singles

Sammy-Kumar Hogan (TAMU-T) def. Kenneth Hardy (AC) 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (4)

Preston Glasscock (AC) def. Nick Gilmore (DBU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (4)

Mario Jelev (UTD) def. Kenneth Hardy (AC) 6-0, 6-4

Flight 2 Singles

Siddharth Kortikere (AC) def. Thomas van der Velden (TAMU-T) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 (6)

Riley Smith (DBU) def. Will Crouch (AC) 6-3, 6-3

Josh Granberry (AC) def. Ryan Morton (UTD) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (3)

Flight 3 Singles

Safe Rahman (AC) def. Kendall Murray (TAMU-T) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 (9)

Rodney Brown (UTD/DBU) def. Tyler Hoose (AC) 6-2, 6-3

Eric Chen (UTD) def. Daniel Oxenreiter (AC) 6-1, 6-1

Flight 1 Doubles

Granberry/Glasscock (AC) def. Scott/Giles (TAMU-T) 8-4

Hardy/Kortikere (AC) def. Jackson/Childs (DBU) 6-1, 6-0

Viathianathan/Kuhn (UTD) def. Cabato/Kubena (AC) 6-2, 7-5

Flight 2 Doubles

Cabato/Kubena (AC) def. Teeters/Armstead (TAMU-T) 8-6

Morgan/Rahman (AC) def. Delao/Cantu (DBU) 6-2, 7-5

(UTD) def. Fortune/Glasscock