Rodriguez Stays Alive, Advances To The D'Novo/ITA All-American Qualifier
10/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 4, 2009
TULSA, Okla. - At first, it was a frustrating finish to a great weekend for the USC Upstate men's tennis team, as sophomore Edgar Rodriguez became the third Spartan to fall in a super-set tiebreak against New Mexico's Carl Ho in the final pre-qualifying singles match on Sunday at the D'Novo/ITA All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa. However, moments later, Rodriguez learned he earned a wild card, "lucky loser" bid, to the qualifying singles bid and that his run at the All-American Championships will continue.
Rodriguez started the day with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jimmy Roberts of Sacramento State to reach the finals of the pre-qualifer, where he won the first set against New Mexico's Carl Ho, 6-4, but fell in the second set, 1-6. In the tiebreaker, Ho was able to down Rodriguez, 10-4.
Tori, who won two matches on Saturday to advance to the third round of the pre-qualifiers, fell in his third-round match to Texas A&M's John Lewis, who eeked out a 6-4, 4-6, 10-6, win over Tori. Tori was the second Spartan to fall in a super-set tiebreaker at the event, joining senior Jack Roux, who fell to Georgia Tech's Elliot Potvin, 7-5, 1-6, 10-8, in the first round on Saturday.
Rodriguez will continue his play at the championships on Monday, facing No. 18 seed Achim Ceban of San Diego State at 11 a.m in the first round qualifying singles match. Ceban is ranked 66th in the latest ITA singles rankings. Rodriguez will need to win three matches in three days to advance to the 64-player main draw, which starts on Thursday.
Tori and Roux will also begin play in the doubles qualifier on Tuesday, needing to win three matches to reach the 32-team main draw, which also starts on Thursday. The Spartan duo will need to win two matches on Tuesday and one on Wednesday to reach the main draw.
