LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's tennis team opened its fall schedule hosting the Intercollegiate Tennis Association South Regional Championships this past weekend. Mocs spent two days at the Beerman Tennis Center and the final days of action at FSC's own Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
"Overall, it was really good for us," said head coach
Rhett Rollyson on the team's performance. "I saw some things I really liked in the doubles pairs and saw lots of fight in the singles. More beneficial though was the fact I saw some things as far as preparation and court sense we can work on. Very happy with George's performance. Having 6 match points against eventual winner shows how close we really are and should make us hungrier."
The regional competition began on Friday as four Moccains took part in singles competition round of 64.
Inaki Braun Simo led the charge with an opening two-set win, as did
Chris Fok Kow and
George Russell.
Alex Fascio and
Mario Garoz also competed in the round of 64, narrowly missing the mark to advance.
In a difficult round of 32 for singles, Russell emerged as the sole Moccasin to advance. In the round of 16, Russell took Bary's Adam Lynch to a tiebreak after a set two comeback to push to extras. Russell lost 12-10 in the tiebreak, falling just short of an upset to end FSC's mark in the main draw. Lynch went on to win the ITA Men's Singles Regional Championship.
For doubles, FSC had three pairings in regionals: Garoz and
Matteo Feggi, Fok Kow and Russell, and
Bosko Boskovic and Braun Simo. Feggi and Garoz won their first round 8-4 in pro set play but were unable to advance to the next round to end FSC's time in the ITA Championship.
The Mocs will take on the Saint Leo Hidden Duals next month to wrap up the fall competition before starting the spring 2024 season in February.
