Men's Tennis Heads to Elon Fall Tournament on Friday

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's tennis team will play in its second fall tournament this weekend (Sept. 26-28) when the Bulldogs travel to Elon to take part in the Elon Fall Invitational at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

Asheville's first tournament was at USC Upstate two weekends ago, and the Bulldogs fared well in their opening tourney.

Asheville won one singles title and one doubles championship at USC Upstate. 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 Daniel Kripak reaching the finals of men's single draw, while Josh Swindler earned a spot on the men's single black draw.

“I was really pleased with the way we opened up at USC Upstate,” stated second-year head coach Tom Hand. “We really had some strong singles and doubles play throughout the weekend against some solid competition.

“This weekend's tournament at Elon will be a good test for our guys,” added Hand. “They'll be some very good players competing, and this tourney should make us better.”

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.

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