Spartans Face Northern Kentucky in A-Sun Championships
4/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's tennis team begins its quest for an NCAA Tournament berth Friday at 2:30 p.m. when the third-seeded Spartans face No. 6 seed Northern Kentucky from North Florida's UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.
Upstate won its final three matches of the regular season to earn its highest seed since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Spartans knocked off Kennesaw State 5-2 Saturday on Senior Day to finish in third place in the league standings.
The Spartans turned in a 7-0 victory over Northern Kentucky earlier in the season on the road and are 3-0 all-time against the Norse.
"I am so happy for this team because of all the adversity we faced throughout the spring season," USC Upstate head coach Oliver Trittenwein said. "We showed a lot of character in competing for one another until the results started falling our way. We have yet to reach the finals of the tournament since entering the league, so that will be our goal this time around."
Junior Ramon Simonetti leads Upstate with 11 singles victories and was 5-1 in league play from the No. 1 position. Simonetti has won his last three singles matches and was named to the All-A-Sun first team on Wednesday.
Freshman Ignacio Garrido went a perfect 6-0 in league play and had won eight consecutive matches and earned a spot on the All-A-Sun second team and joined Felix Ewers on the All-Freshman Team.
Upstate would face No. 2 seed North Florida with a victory over Northern Kentucky.
Follow Upstate men's tennis all season long on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
