University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Advance to Take on No. 1 Stanford in NCAA Tennis Championships
5/19/2001
ATHENS -- Tennessee advanced to the 2001 NCAA Tennis Tournament's quarterfinal round today by defeating No. 9 seed South Alabama 4-0 at Athens, Ga. The Vols, seeded No. 8 in the tournament, take on No. 1 seed and defending national champion Stanford Sunday at 11 a.m.
"I'm happy with the performance of the team," said UT head coach Michael Fancutt. "We told them that to do well and need to perform at their best as individuals and at their best as a team. The team has worked unbelievably hard. After getting so close last year, within a point or two of the final match, we believe we're a team that could win the tournament."
The Vols opened the match today, which was delayed over one hour by rain and completed indoors, by winning their third consecutive doubles point of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 2 doubles team of Adam Carey and Mark Parsons defeated USA's Christian Thall and Evan Fowler 8-5, while the No. 3 tandum Simon Rea and Mario Toledo disposed of Zak Lahmar/Zlatko Stupavsky 8-2.
In singles play, Tennessee's Mario Toledo won at the No. 2 spot 6-3, 7-5 over South Alabama's Julien Raynal 6-3, 7-5 to clinch the match. Peter Handoyo, currently the highest ranked UT singles player at No. 25, defeated Vince Baudat 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 3 match. At No. 4 singles, Adam Carey (54) took little time in disposing of Zlatko Stupavaky 6-2, 6-1.
"First of all, you have to give all the credit to Tennessee," said South Alabama head coach Scott Novak. "We came out with a good effort, but Tennessee has no holes. We played hard in doubles and UT was sticking it to us prior to the rain. We were able to make a run for it, but Tennessee deserved to win. We finished the year 29-3, playing an extremely tough schedule. But when you get to this level of play, you have to give your best effort and Tennessee outplayed us today."
The victory improved the sixth-ranked Vols mark to (21-5) on the season and ended South Alabama's 20-match winning streak. Tommorow's opponent, Stanford, defeated No. 16 seed Pepperdine 4-1 Saturday.
Today's win puts the Vols in their eighth NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round and the first time ever in back-to-back seasons. Tennessee lost to Stanford in the 1991 NCAA Finals 5-2 in 1991 at Indian Wells, Calif.
?
|
Tennessee
4 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| DOUBLES | |||
| 1. (national ranking) |
W
|
||
| Tennessee | Andy Crews/Peter Handoyo (44)* |
7
|
suspended
|
| South Alabama |
Vince Baudat/Julien Raynal (40) |
6
|
|
| 2. |
W
|
||
| Tennessee | Adam Carey/Mark Parsons (20)* |
8
|
Tennessee
|
| South Alabama | Christian Thall/Evan Fowler |
5
|
|
| 3. |
W
|
||
| Tennessee | Simon Rea/Mario Toledo* |
8
|
Tennessee
|
| South Alabama | Zak Lahmar/Zlatko Stupavsky |
2
|
|
| SINGLES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (national ranking) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
W
|
|
| Tennessee | Mark Parsons (31)* |
7
|
5
|
suspended
|
|
| S. Alabama | Christian Thall (69) |
5
|
2
|
||
| 2. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
W
|
|
| Tennessee | Mario Toledo (58) |
6
|
7
|
Tennessee
|
|
| S.Alabama | Julien Raynal (42) |
3
|
5
|
||
| 3. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
W
|
|
| Tennessee | Peter Handoyo(25)* |
6
|
6
|
Tennessee
|
|
| S. Alabama | Vince Baudat |
4
|
1
|
||
| 4. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
W
|
|
| Tennessee | Adam Carey (54) |
6
|
6
|
Tennessee
|
|
| S. Alabama | Zlatko Stupavsky* |
2
|
1
|
||
| 5. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
W
|
|
| Tennessee | Paul Podbury (95)* |
6
|
1
|
suspended
|
|
| S. Alabama | Evan Fowler |
3
|
0
|
||
| 6. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
W
|
|
| Tennessee | Simon Rea* |
3
|
suspended
|
||
| S.Alabama | Zak Lahmar |
3
|
|||
| Order of finish: #4, #3, #2 |
Tennessee
4-0 |
||||
