LAKELAND, Fla. (September 25, 2023) - A handful of members from the men's tennis team competed in the ITA South Regional this weekend in Lakeland. The event, which helps rank players for the upcoming spring season, was hosted by Florida Southern.
Full Results
The Tars sent two doubles teams to compete.
Efe Comu and
Luke Quaynor were ranked as the #2 seed in the event following their All-American finish last spring, but were shocked by Joao Guariente and Giuseppe Bonaiuti of Auburn Montgomery, 8-4, in the first round.
Charlie Putrino and freshman
Nico de Giacomo were the other Rollins duo, but they suffered the same fate as their mates, falling 8-4 to Samuel Parsons and Simon Luigs of Montevallo.
Four Tars played in the 64-man singles tournament. Quaynor scored the first win of the day for Rollins, dispatching Samuel Maia of Montevallo with a 6-4, 6-1 win. his day would come to a close in the next round however when he ran into eventual champion Adam Lynch of Barry, falling 6-3, 6-3.
Comu also found himself in the win column after a round one defeat of Wilson Igbinovia (West Alabama), 6-3, 6-3. Similar to his doubles partner, Comu found his tournament ended when he lost to West Florida's Sebastian Sotelo, who would make it all the way to the semi-finals.
Guillermo Castaneda took the first set from Alex Benichou Blanchard (Mississippi) 6-2, but then fell in the second set 7-5, and the tie-breaker, 10-8.
Richard Stoiberer had a tight match as well, facing Takeshi Taco of Valdosta State. Their first set went 7-6 (3) to Taco, followed by a 6-1 win to end Stoiberer's run.
The next month of the season will focus on training before the annual Varner Memorial Florida Cup, hosted by the Tars on October 27-29.
