Men's tennis team in third place at national tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's tennis team is in third place just two points behind at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in McKinney, Texas.

The Titans had another good day at the Courts of McKinney as four singles players and all three doubles teams reached the semifinals on Wednesday.

"We competed. We competed really well, we are in shape and tomorrow is the day – tomorrow is going to separate the top three," Eastern Florida State College men's tennis coach Bobby Cashman said. "We have to pull out some singles and doubles matches tomorrow but I think we can. We have had some close matches, but we have also finished some matches early so I think we should be OK. Everyone is tired so it is going to come down to who wants it more and who comes out correct and is willing to fight for those points."

Eastern Florida State College is in third place with 34 points, just two points behind Cowley College and Tyler Junior College who are tied for the lead with 36 points.

The Titans' day began with singles matches and the top three singles players all recorded straight set wins in the quarterfinals.

Freshman Hugo Car defeated No. 6 seed Jaroslav Majsajdr of Harford Community College in straight sets to advance to the semifinals. Car broke Majsajdr to take a 3-1 lead and went on to win the first set 6-1. The N0. 3 seed went on to post the 6-4 win in the second set and will play Tyler Junior College's Diego Dalisay who is the No. 2 seed. Like Car, Dalisay has won every match in straight sets so far in the tournament. The semifinals match will begin at 8 a.m. central time on Thursday.

Sophomore Lucas Gonzalez took an early lead in his quarterfinal match but it was a back and forth first set that went to a tiebreaker, tied 6-6. Gonzalez took control in the tiebreaker winning 7-2. The No. 4 seed broke open a tight second set late to post the 6-4 win. Gonzalez will play No. 1 seed Boruch Skierkier in the semifinals at 8 a.m. Thursday. Skierkier, who plays for Cowley, has yet to be pushed in the tournament.

Freshman Eric Tripathi also picked up a straight set victory at No. 3 singles as the No. 3 seed defeated No. 6 seed Hugo Blasco 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals. Tripathi has cruised to straight set wins in every match in Texas and will play No. 2 seed Tim Riedel of Tyler Junior College who won 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday. The No. 3 singles semifinal will begin at 8 a.m.

Also picking up a victory in singles was Jett Leong who defeated Iowa Central's Zamani Moyo in three sets in a No. 5 singles quarterfinals. Leong got off to a fast start taking the first five points and won the first set 6-1. But Moyo came back to post the 6-4 win in the second set to force a third set. In the third set, Leong once again jumped out to a fast 4-1 lead and went on to post the 6-3 win. The freshman will play No. 2 seed Emilio Vila of Tyler Junior College. Vila won his quarterfinal match 6-0, 6-1. The semifinal match will also begin at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Freshman Jack Dixon had an epic match at No. 4 singles as the three-set match lasted well over three hours and featured two tiebreakers as Dixon lost to Iowa Central's Andrew Kunaka 6-7(5), 7-6(3) and 4-6.

Freshman Colin Tavares also lost in the quarterfinals at No. 6 singles as Iowa Central's Nafiralo Ouattara advanced with the 6-4, 6-4 win.

The Titans came back in the afternoon and had a clean sweep in the doubles matches as all three doubles teams will play in the semifinals on Thursday.

The No. 1 doubles team of Car and Gonzalez rebounded after a slow start to break host Collin College's Luis Ching and Tristan Vigneron to take a 4-3 lead. They would go on to post the 6-4 win and had a late break in the second set to advance with the 6-4 win in the second set.

Car and Gonzalez will play No. 1 seed Diego Dalisay and Juan Carlos Garcia from Tyler Junior College, who won 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday. Thursday's semifinal will begin at 11 a.m.

Dixon and Tavares rebounded with a victory at No. 2 doubles as the No. 3 seed won in three sets. The Titans would take the first set 6-3 before the Wallace State duo of Massimo Caliendo and Sebastian Gamez would respond to force a third set with the 6-1 win in the second set. Dixon and Tavares would get the break early to take a 3-1 lead and went on to post the 6-3 win to advance to the semifinals where they will play Cowley College's Hanamichi Carvajal and Taiyo Hirano. Thursday's semifinal will begin at 11 a.m.

The No. 3 doubles team of Eavan Attie and Tripathi picked up the quarterfinal win over ABAC's Benjamin Ranby-Al and Antoine Schaub in straight sets. Attie and Tripathi won the first set 6-2 but the second set the ABAC duo battle point for point as it would go to a tiebreaker tied 6-6. But Attie and Tripathi would make the big shots, posting the 7-1 tiebreaker win to advance to the semifinals. Attie and Tripathi will play Tyler Junior College's Calvin Golmei and Emilio Vila who are the No. 2 seed. Thursday's match will begin at 11 a.m.