Men's tennis team tied for third at national tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's tennis team is tied for third overall at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Florence, South Carolina.

The Titans have three singles players in the national tournament semifinals and the No. 2 doubles team is in the quarterfinals after a long day of tennis.

Weather was once again the main attraction as play was stopped for about four hours with two separate storms rolling through the area.

Alberto Perez Mellado clinched a spot in the semifinal at No. 2 singles with a dominating win in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. After dropping the first point, Perez took the next two and never looked back, winning the first set 6-3. He dominated the second set, winning 6-0.

Perez, who is the No. 6 seed, will face Wallace State's Alexander Edley who is the No. 2 seed. Edley won his quarterfinal match 6-4, 7-5.

Tomas Kurz Cardozo won despite the delay in No. 5 singles as he was headed to a tiebreaker when the rain began. Kurz, who won the first set 6-2, dominated the tiebreaker and picked up the win 7-2 in the tiebreaker to win 7-6.

Konstantin Kukaras also advanced to the semifinals at No. 6 singles as he got off to a quick start, leading 3-0 and then held on for the 7-5 win in the first set. Pratt Community College's Sixto Golobart was disqualified for his conduct after the first set, giving Kukaras the victory.

Kukaras, who is the No. 4 seed, will face Cowley College's Juwan Bae who is the No. 1 seed. Bae advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 win.

The No. 2 doubles team is still alive after picking up a win Wednesday evening in the Round of 16. The duo waited out the storm but played well when they finally took the court, Salva Mulet and Filip Sormaz defeated Meridian Community College's Blakeney Allen and Badlwin Escobar 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. The duo will play again Thursday against No. 6 seed Kenta Kawada and Kenneth Rabinad Vila from Pratt Community College.

The No. 3 doubles team of Pablo Garcia Rodriguez and Kurz played the final match of the evening after both finished their singles matches after the storm. The duo lost to Coastal Alabama's David Gimenez and Alvaro Velasco 7-5, 6-3.

Garcia and Kurz will play in the consolation round of 16 on Thursday.

The No. 1 doubles team of Alexandr Achour and brother Zakaria Achour played one of the most entertaining matches of the evening. The team lost the first set to Cowley College's Juwan Bae and Dan Hosono 6-2 but battled in the second set, tying things at 4-4 and 5-5 before winning the next two points to force a third set with the 7-5 win.

The Titans dup took a 3-0 lead in the third set, but Cowley came back to tie it 4-4. From there it became a classic match as the two teams traded big shots and the Titans had a chance to break for the win but Bae hit an ace to keep Cowley College alive. They would go on to win the final two points to win 7-5.

Alexandr Achour could not hang on against Jones College's Matias Ruiz in match featuring long rally after long rally. Achour won the first set 6-1, but Ruiz battled back to win 6-4 and then 6-1 to advance.

Filip Sormaz had a battle with Cowley College's Valentin Greco. Sormaz won the first set by breaking Greco to win 6-4. Greco came back to win the second set 6-3. Up 2-1, Greco forced deuce on Sormaz serve and the two battled through six ties before Greco took the win, tying it 2-2. Greco would win the next four points to take the match 6-2.

Pablo Garcia was up 4-2 when the rains came forcing him to wait to try and tie the match 1-1 after Wallace State's Axel Le Ho won the first set 7-5. When play did continue, Garcia did go on to with the second set 6-2. But Le Ho held on to win the match in the third set, 6-3.

The semifinals will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday with the doubles quarterfinal match slated for later in the day.