EFSC tied for fifth at NJCAA Division I National Tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's tennis team is tied for fifth place overall heading into the championship day at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Florence, South Carolina.

Alberto Perez Mellado won at No. 2 singles in three sets to advance to the final on Friday morning beginning at 8 a.m. Perez won 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will play Barton Community College's Victor Alves for the title at 8 a.m. Read more here.

The men's No. 3 doubles team of Pablo Garcia Rodriguez and Tomas Kurz Cardozo won both matches in the consolation bracket and will play in the semifinals on Friday morning.

In the first match of the day the duo defeated Jones College's Ridge Jones and Reese Touchet 8-3.

Then in the afternoon, Rodriguez and Kurz beat Itawamba Community College's Santiago Diaz and Ben Orr 8-1 to advance to Friday's consolation semifinal. They will face No. 5 seed Collin College's Santiago Martinez and Luke Stula at 10:30 a.m. The winner will play for the consolation title at 12:30 p.m. at Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center.

Kurz played in the semifinal of No. 5 singles to begin the day against Weatherford College's Andres Serrano. Kurz won the first set 6-4 but Serrano came back to force a third set, winning 6-4 and then won the match in the third.

At No. 6 singles, Konstantin Kukaras got off to a slow start as Cowley College's Juwan Bae won the first set 6-1. But Kurakas rebounded in the second set and dominated, winning the second set 6-1 to force a third set. Kurakas got off to a good start but Bae prevailed in the third set 6-3 to advance.

The No. 2 doubles team of Filip Sormaz and Salva Mulet took the court against Pratt Community College's Kenta Kawada and Kenneth Rabinad Vila in a quarterfinal match and lost in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.

Tyler Junior College leads the tournament with Barton Community College second and Collin College is third heading into the final day.