DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's tennis team's valiant run this season ended in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Regionals with a 4-0 loss to No. 5 Embry-Riddle Monday morning at Crotty Tennis Complex.
The Mocs entered the regional tournament for the first time in six years, taking the last at-large selection in a difficult South Region. Embry-Riddle was the second seed for the region and host of the second bracket of regional teams.
The Eagles took the doubles point winning two of the flights, as the third went unfinished.
Erik Nordblom and
Matteo Feggi represented the Mocs on the #1 court but lost to a No. 23 pairing of Juan Ortiz Courder and Andres Donayre 6-4.
Chris Fok Kow and
Valentin Hertweck competed in the second court with a 6-2 loss to Fernando Alonso and Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo. Brandon and
Brian Pham's flight went unfinished as Embry-Riddle won their point.
In singles competition, Fok Kow lost his flight against the No. 11 ranked Alexis Guedy in two sets. The third point for the Eagles went to Lukas Schnieder, who beat
Brandon Pham 6-2, 6-4. A close match for Florida Southern as
Elliott Altman sent his first set to a tiebreaker, but just short as Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo won 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 as the match-deciding point and regional win.
Facing adversity all season, the Mocs put together a great season against tough competition. Ranked as high as 22nd in the nation, the Mocs had big wins over top 25 teams in the early part of the season, but FSC's last win was a 5-2 win over #35 Palm Beach Atlantic. Undefeated at home until last month, the Mocs lost their last matchup against the Eagles in a 5-2 decision. Many of the matches the last couple of weeks have been close and just a couple of flight points away from racking enough points for a match win. Florida Southern was led by Hertweck, who spent most of his senior year nationally ranked as a singles player. He nearly beat No. 3 Bruno Faletto in the SSC tournament and right alongside
Oscar Sohl who has had a great season and 10-3 singles record. Hertweck teamed up with Fok Kow as did Sohl with Nordblom to have the best doubles team records.
