ROME, GEORGIA – UT Tyler men's tennis players
Carel Wessel and
Daniil Felker wrapped up their ITA Cup slates on Saturday afternoon after a week of strong competition against some of the nation's best.
Play began back on Thursday morning, as Wessel began his singles quest by facing off against #3 seeded Boruch Skierkier of Valdosta State. Wessel battled close in set one and eventually fell 6-3, but Skierkier held the upper hand in set two on his way to a 6-1 win.
In doubles, the pair of Wessel and Felker got their week started on Thursday afternoon, as they faced off with the Saint Leo pair of Luis Iriarte and Eduardo Cohen. Felker and Wessel took the opening set 6-4, but the Saint Leo duo battled back with a 6-1 win to even the match and force a tiebreaker. In that tiebreaker, Iriarte and Cohen would pull away with a 10-4 win, earning advancement into the next round.
The week would not be over, as each would be able to move forward into the consolation brackets. Wessel rebounded in a big way in singles, delivering a 6-1, 6-3 straight sets win on Friday morning against Vaclav Schneider from Washburn. His success continued on Saturday, as he found himself in a marathon match against Semyon Tsyrenov from Rockhurst.
Tsyrenov took the first set 7-5, but Wessel came roaring back, scoring a 6-2 win in set two to force a tiebreaking third set. He kept up the momentum, delivering a 6-4 win to round out his tournament with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket.
For the doubles pair of Wessel and Felker, their second round match came on Friday as they took on Adrian Solorzano and Cas de Ruiter from Harding. Again the pair won the first set, this time by a margin of 6-0. However, Solorzano and de Ruiter picked up a 6-1 second set win to even the match, and went on to win the tiebreaker 10-3.
The Patriots duo would have one final match at the ITA Cup on Saturday afternoon, taking on Phil Exner and Ramon Strassmann of Ouachita Baptist. Wessel and Felker battled close throughout the match, but the Ouachita Baptist pair took a straight sets win of 6-4, 6-4 to close out the match.
UT Tyler will now look ahead to the spring season as the Patriots look to continue their streak of making the NCAA Round of 16.
