Upstate Earns Fourth Seed in A-Sun Tournament, Hosts Lipscomb in First Round
4/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
A-Sun Men's Tennis Tournament Central
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's tennis team begins its quest for an NCAA Tournament berth Friday morning at 9 a.m. when the fourth-seeded Spartans face No. 5 seed Lipscomb from the USC Upstate Tennis Complex in first round action of the A-Sun Men's Tennis Championships.
Upstate earned the tournament's fourth seed after finishing the regular season with a 7-13 overall record and an even 3-3 mark in the conference. In their regular season finale on April 16, the Spartans dropped a 5-2 road decision at NJIT. Ramon Simonetti and Jamie Yates each picked up a singles win for Upstate.
Yates leads the Spartans this season with a 12-5 singles mark and is 8-4 when playing at the number three position. He also finished 5-1 in conference play. Simonetti and Ankush Arora currently sit at 5-4 in doubles play after playing all nine of their matches at number one.
"I am proud of our men's tennis team making it back in the A-Sun postseason championships now five years in a row," said head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein. "We had a very successful regular season run within the conference and we are looking to go as far as we can this year within the championship. I am proud to say that we have all of our graduating seniors in the line up to defend the Spartan honor as we host the A-Sun Tournament for the first time since joining the conference."
The trio of Simonetti, Yates and Arora were three of four Upstate players to receive postseason awards from the A-Sun on Wednesday. Simonetti was named First Team All-Conference while Yates garnered Second Team All-Conference accolades at the number three singles position. Arora and Lenhard Haupt were both selected to the All-Freshman Team. The duo of Simonetti and Arora were selected Second Team All-Conference playing at number one doubles.
"It has to be said that a lot is riding on two of my seniors in Ramon Simonetti and Jamie Yates, who both received first and second team A-Sun honors respectively, to go out on top of their games and lead their team to the most prized possession afforded them - to win the A-Sun Championships," added Trittenwein. "I wish our team much success this weekend."
Lipscomb concluded its regular season with an 8-12 record and went 2-4 against conference opponents. In the first meeting between the two teams on April 7, the Spartans defeated Lipscomb 6-1 in Nashville.
The winner of the matchup will take on top-seed Florida Gulf Coast Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
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