Air Force Academy
ITA Mountain Regionals
Wilhelm Still Alive at Regional Tournament
10/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 22, 2009
The Air Force men's tennis team wrapped up the second day of the ITA Mountain Region Tournament Thursday at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas, Nev. Freshman Lance Wilhelm is the lone singles player still alive in the tournament, while senior Brett Rodgers and junior Taylor Soster are still in the doubles consolation bracket.
Wilhelm won two consolation matches on Thursday, defeating Kyle Walker of Nevada-Reno, 6-4, 6-1, then disposing of Arthur Surreaux of New Mexico State, 6-3, 6-0. Surreaux was one of the top 32-seeded players in the tournament. Wilhelm will face Alex Joitoiu of Idaho in the third round of consolation on Friday.
In the longest match of the day and one of the longest of the fall season, senior Austin Francis battled Boise State's Freddy Walsh for 3 hours and 57 minutes. Francis came up on the short end of three tie-breakers, losing 6-7, 7-6, 7-6. Sophomore Cody Hall also saw his tournament end after losing s third-set tiebreaker to Nikita Ryashchenko of Utah State, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6, in the consolation second round.
In doubles play, Rodgers and Soster opened the day with an 8-5 loss to the eighth-seeded team of Lachlan Reed and Adrien Simon of Idaho, but rebounded to defeat Walker and Gabe Kanzelmeyer of Nevada-Reno, 8-1, in the second round of consolation.
Air Force's other two doubles teams, Hall and Wilhelm and Francis and Katrein, lost to seeded teams in the second round of the main draw, then dropped their first consolation match and were eliminated from the tournament.
For updates throughout the tournament, click here.
