SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE DRAW

ATHENS, Ga. – Senior Sam Slade went a combined 6-2 in singles and doubles action to lead the Kennesaw State men's tennis team at the Southern Intercollegiate Championship hosted by the University of Georgia this weekend in Athens.
 
Slade made a run through the No. 3 Singles Draw, reaching Sunday's championship match with four straight victories and dropping just one set along the way. In the No. 2 Doubles Draw, he teamed with Fermin Calvo Barcelo to go 2-1.
 
"It was a good weekend overall, but it was a grind against some really good competition," said Director of Tennis Eduardo Rincon. "Sam had a really good weekend. He's shown a lot of improvement over the last year. It's good to see him grow, and we're going to need him to make an impact for us this season."
 
Slade knocked off Belmont's Zak Khan (6-1, 7-6), Gardner-Webb's Ross Gilbert (6-4, 6-2), UCF's Saitejas Mopuri (6-0, 7-6) and reached the championship with a victory over Tennessee Tech's Jorge Alfonso (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) in the semfinals. The senior from Alpharetta fell in Sunday's championship match to Andrei Andrukhov of Georgia State, 6-0, 6-2.
 
"He faced some adversity in the semifinals when he had to go to three sets," said Rincon. "But he stepped up to the challenge and came up big for us."
 
In the No. 2 Doubles Draw, Calvo Barcelo and Slade dispatched Lipscomb's Minet and Cardenas (6-4) and advanced to the Round of 8 after Belmont's Khan and Russo withdrew. Their run was halted by Florida's Kessler and Guillin (6-2).
 
Calvo Barcelo also won a pair of matches in the consolation draw of the No. 1 Singles, beating Georgia Tech's Cole Fiegel and Georgia State's Koeke, both in three sets. Calvo dropped the opening set to Fiegel 6-2, but won the next two, 7-6 and 10-5 to advance. Against Koeke, Calvo was victorious 6-3, 5-7, 10-3.
 
Senior Simon Pritchard and junior Manuel Castellanos continue to be a formidable doubles pair, going 2-1 in the No. 1 Doubles Draw. The duo knocked off Mitchell and Manzanares of Lipscomb (6-4), then pulled out a 7-6 win over Andrews and Flores of Miami. Georgia Tech's Kay and Yun ended the Owls' run with a 6-2 win on Sunday.
 
Pritchard took 12^th-seeded Max Tchoutakian of Baylor to a third set in the opening round of the No. 1 Singles Draw. Pritchard won the opening set 7-5, but Tchoutakian rallied to advance with set scores of 6-4 and 7-5.
 
In the consolation bracket of the No. 3 Singles Draw, Drew Wendel posted a pair of straight-set victories over Eastern Kentucky's Hart (6-1, 6-4) and Georgia State's Horvath (6-2, 6-2).
 
Next Up...
The Owls are back on the court Sept. 30 at the Steve Baras Fall Classic hosted by UT-Chattanooga.
 
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State women's tennis news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUMensTennis or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.

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