Kangaroo Men's Tennis Closes Out Successful Fall ITA With Tournament Victory

SAN ANTONIO, Tx - For the First time in program history, an Austin College Doubles Team advanced through a regional competition in this year's ITA Southwest Regional B-Draw Doubles Championship.

Kenneth Hardy and Erik Meendsen earned a berth into the final match when Hardin-Simmons's Weinkam/Boyd withdrew from competition, but a conference opponent stood in the duo's way to the championship.

Trinity's Clark Rivers and Kevin Lee played relaxed, efficient tennis in the early stages of the match, while Meendsen and Hardy played tight like they did not belong.  The deficit reached 1-6 and almost looked irreversible.

The 'Roos fought back to 4-7 with Trinity serving.  But after a couple of unforced errors off return of serves, Austin College found itself down "triple match point."

Able to keep their composure, Hardy and Meendsen fought off 7 match points in total before breaking Rivers to keep themselves alive 5-7.  But Trinity would not find themselves able to get any closer for the remainder of the match, as overcoming their plight at 4-7 sparked a confidence in the 'Roos en route to 5 unanswered games.

Hardy and Meendsen of Austin College are crowned B-Draw Doubles Champions in a region of tough Division III opponents 9-7 over Rivers/Lee of Trinity.

Preston Glasscock took no liberties in earning his semi-final berth in C-Draw Singles.  The 'Roo that was once only a few points away from qualifying for the A-Draw toppled the #1 Seeded player in the B-Draw without a blemish on the scorecards; 6-0, 6-0.

In the finals, Hunter Snell of Southwestern had also been carving up opponents, and though Glasscock found himself serving for the 1st set at 5-4, he could not find his game before Snell came racing back to win 7-5.

After a brief changeover, Glasscock began hitting tennis balls with heavy topspin to keep Snell in a defensive location of the court, unable to attack.  This proved successful as Glasscock took the 2nd set quickly at 6-1.

But nerves and the desire to win and stifle anyone's confidence, and the aggressiveness of Snell in the 'Roos final super-tiebreaker of the tournament was too much for Glasscock to handle as he ends an impressive tournament with a 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7) defeat.

Austin College has one more competition before a successful and record-setting fall ends; a tough match against nationally ranked Seminole State at home on October 8th, 2015 at 3:00pm.

B Draw Doubles

SF Kenneth Hardy/Erik Meendsen (AC) def. Griffin Weinkam/Michael Boyd (HSU) def.

C Draw Singles

SF Preston Glasscock (AC) def. Andrew Albright (SCH) 6-0, 6-0