MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Ninth-seeded Alabama-Huntsville beat eighth-seeded Stillman, 5-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Region 1 men’s tennis tournament hosted by Barry University at Buccaneer Tennis Center.
The Chargers (15-13) advance to meet the top-seeded host Buccaneers (23-0) at 11:30 a.m. in Sunday’s semifinals.
Huntsville’s Nestor Perez beat David Torres, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. Chris Kano defeated Vladyslav Zhyrov, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3. Ghuilermo Reyes swept Santiago Robles, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5, clinching the victory for the Chargers.
After Huntsville won the Nos. 1 and 3 doubles matches to go up 2-0 in the match, Stillman’s gritty No. 2 duo of Aleksandar Zobec and Luis Mendoza played an inspired match in beating Fredrik Graaneer and Reyes, 8-4, to pull the Tigers within 2-1 entering singles play.
But the Chargers played vocal, determined tennis in singles action to advance to Sunday’s semifinals against the only unbeaten men’s team left in the Division II national tournament when they meet the host Buccaneers.