2016 GSC Men's Tennis Tournament, April 14-16
Click
HERE for the official 2016 GSC Tennis Tournament Homepage.
Click
HERE for the first set of NCAA Division II South Region Tennis Rankings (as of 4/13/2016).
Birmingham, Ala. - The field of eight teams are set to compete this week in Montgomery, Ala., for the right to the 2016 GSC Men's Tennis Tournament Championship.
The 2016 GSC Men's Tennis Tournament field plays out as follows: No. 1 West Florida, No. 2 Valdosta State, No. 3 North Alabama, No. 4 West Alabama, No. 5 Shorter, No. 6 Lee, No. 7 Delta State and No. 8 Alabama Huntsville.
The conference tournament will be held in Montgomery, Ala., at the O'Connor Tennis Center at Lagoon Park, on Thursday, April 14 and run through Saturday, April 16, with Sunday, April 17, reserved as a weather makeup day.
No. 1 West Florida
The Argonauts closed the regular season at 16-5, including a perfect 9-0 in conference play, claimed the GSC Regular Season Championship and will serve as the top seed in the conference postseason tournament. UWF, the No. 4 team in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), has built quite the impressive streak as it has now won its last 49-consecutive conference matches. The squad picked up seven big wins this season against nationally-ranked opponents, including a 7-2 victory over No. 1 Hawaii Pacific (4/7). Six Argos had at least 10 wins on the season in Alex Peyrot (15-3), Douglas Boe (13-5), Kenny Brasil (12-3), Sebastian Sanchez (12-7), Pablo Borrero (10-6) and Juan Pablo Boada (10-7). Both Brasil and Peyrot were 16-3 in doubles, while Boada and Roese (11-6) and Borrero and Tellez (13-0) also turned in double-digit wins. The Argos are in search of their 13
th all-time GSC Tournament Title.
No. 2 Valdosta State
The ITA-No. 8 Blazers finished 12-6 and 8-1 in conference play this season. VSU turned in quite a few standout performances against South Region foes, including an 8-1 win against Rollins and a 5-3 win over then-No. 6 Lynn. It’s lone conference loss came in a nailbiter versus West Florida on 3/25, which the Argos took 5-4. VSU closed the regular season having won six of its last 10 matches. Gereon Heitmann (10-2) and Xavier Pineda (10-2) led the team, while the combo of Leo Blay and Pineda were 12-1 in doubles play. The squad will look to hoist the GSC Tournament Championship Trophy for the 11
th time this season.
No. 3 North Alabama
The Lions, No. 44 in the ITA rankings, have one GSC Tournament Title and will seek to make it two this season. UNA finished 7-2 in conference play and 11-3 overall. UNA will open postseason play against first-timer Lee, of which UNA downed 8-1 during the season (4/1). Max Druppel went 10-2 to lead the team, while Millington-Herrmann was 9-3 and Miguel Garcia went 9-4. The team of Guillaume Dechoz and Millington-Herrmann went 8-1 in doubles action, while Taylor Ausbon and Miguel Garcia were a perfect 8-0.
No. 4 West Alabama
The Tigers look to return to the GSC Tournament Title Match for the first time since 2014. UWA will open the GSC Tournament, in search of its first-ever conference championship, against Shorter. The match ended in 5-4 in favor of UWA. Julius Kaverinen had seven wins, while Nicolai Jochamowitz had six. The Team finished the regular season at 10-11, including 5-4 in conference play.
No. 5 Shorter
This marks the second-consecutive season that Shorter has advanced to the GSC Tournament. The Hawks closed the season at 8-12 (4-5 GSC) and will take on West Alabama in the opening round. Jimmy Kerjouan (15-4) and Arthur Amat (10-10) will lead SU into postseason play. Both were also involved in doubles this season as Kerjouan and Louis Tourtois were 7-13 and Amat and Talha Zubair were 7-5. Patrick Sanders and Robert Watson were 7-10.
No. 6 Lee
The Flames enter their first-ever GSC Tournament in their first year of NCAA Division II eligibility. Lee, which went 12-10 (3-6 GSC) will take on No. 3 North Alabama in the opening round. The Flames fell in that match on April 1, 1-8. Boyd Blackburn led the way for the Flames going 13-6, while Eirik Groner, Karl Hulten and Rhys Milne all turned in 11 wins each. The team of Blackburn and Milne lead the team in doubles action, going 11-3. Lee, along with five others in the tournament field, is in search of its first GSC Tournament Championship.
No. 7 Delta State
The Statesmen is one of only three teams in this year’s championship field, along with West Florida and Valdosta State, to have hoisted the GSC Tournament Trophy. DSU went 4-10 in the regular season, including 2-7 in conference play, which landed the squad in the seven-seed. Jeoffrey Noblecourt went 10-3 to lead the team. Alexi Turc was 8-4. The Statesmen will open against No. 2 Valdosta State.
No. 8 Alabama Huntsville
The Chargers limp into tournament play having lost its last 13-consecutive matches. UAH went 2-18 (1-8 GSC) and will open the postseason against No. 1 West Florida. Both Noah Ping and Harrison Stone each had six wins for UAH, Elliot Hopson had five and the team of Rodrigo Palomino and Stone were 6-10.
2016 GSC Men's Tennis Tournament [all matches slated for 9:00 am (CT) starts]
Thursday, April 14
Match 1: No. 8 Alabama Huntsville vs. No. 1 West Florida
Match 2: No. 5 Shorter vs. No. 4 West Alabama
Match 3: No. 7 Delta State vs. No. 2 Valdosta State
Match 4: No. 6 Lee vs. No. 3 North Alabama
Friday, April 15
Match 5: Winner (Match 2) vs. Winner (Match 1)
Match 6: Winner (Match 4) vs. Winner (Match 3)
Saturday, April 16
Match 7: Winner (Match 6) vs. Winner (Match 5)