Men's Tennis Claims Two Titles at USC Upstate This Weekend

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNC Asheville men's tennis team enjoyed an excellent start to the fall season at the USC Upstate Fall Classic this weekend.

Asheville won one singles title and one doubles championship during the weekend tourney. Junior Thomas Panoulas captured the men's singles white draw, while the doubles team of Brett Landau and Alex Croker won the men's doubles Green Draw.

Other highlights included Kripak reaching the finals of men's single draw, while Josh Swindler earned a spot on the men's single black draw.

Panoulas was seeded eighth in the event and won four matches to claim the white draw. He defeated Alejandro Bejar of Presbyterian in the first round, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 on Friday. On Saturday, Panoulas won two matches. He roared past Will George of Kennesaw State, 6-1, 6-0 and then rallied past top-seeded Ramone of USC Upstate, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to earn a berth in Sunday's finals.

On Sunday, Panoulas dominated second-seeded Alejandro Valencia of Kennesaw State, 6-1, 6-4 to claim the title.

Landau and Croker were seeded first and controlled all three matches they played to win the draw. They knocked off Johnson and George of Kennesaw, 6-3 on Friday in the quarterfinals. In Saturday's semifinals, Landau and Croker eased past Yates and Giakoumakis of USC Upstate, 6-3. The duo raced past Valencia and Castellanous of Kennesaw State on Sunday, 6-1 in the finals.

Kripak won two matches to reach the finals of the green draw. He defeated Jamie Yates of USC Upstate, 6-3, 6-2 and then roared past Ben Horst of Furman, 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals. Kripak fell to Viktor Selander of USC Upstate, 6-4, 6-4.

Swindler won two matches on Saturday to get to Sunday's finals. He downed Alex Pena of Kennesaw State, 6-0, 6-1 to reach the semifinals. Swindler rallied past Ryan Miller of Presbyterian College, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.

The sophomore fought hard in the finals before falling to top-seeded Jacob Behal of Furman, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

The Bulldogs compete next in the Elon Invitational the weekend of Sept. 26-28.