LMU Men Seeded 9th in NCAA Tennis Championship Southeast Region Bracket
The Lincoln Memorial University men's tennis team has garnered the No. 9 seed for the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship, setting up a duel with eighth-seeded Limestone College in the opening round of that event on Saturday, April 27th at 2 p.m. in Savannah, Georgia.
INDIANAPOLIS - The Lincoln Memorial University men's tennis team has garnered the No. 9 seed for the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship, setting up a duel with eighth-seeded Limestone College in the opening round of that event on Saturday, April 27th at 2 p.m. in Savannah, Georgia. Defending national champions and No. 1 nationally-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University is the site of the side of the southeast regional bracket housing the Railsplitters.
Lincoln Memorial University (14-5) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional after capturing the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship title this past weekend in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Railsplitters took 5-3 victories over Newberry and Anderson before rallying for a 5-4 triumph over No. 42 nationally-ranked Wingate in the title match of the SAC Championship. Facing a 4-3 deficit in that match, Gabriel Martins and Guilherme Rocha clinched the come-from-behind victory with a pair of masterful three-set wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. That was the Railsplitters' second SAC tournament championship in four seasons, as they claimed the 2010 title.
The Limestone College Saints boast a 18-7 overall mark, as they earned the automatic bid by virtue of claiming the Conference Carolinas tournament championship with a 5-2 win over top-seeded Coker this past Sunday. The Saints' best win of the season came on April 14th, as they edged out a 5-4 win over 50th-ranked Mount Olive.
The Railsplitters and Saints are quite familiar with each other, as the two teams met to open Lincoln Memorial's 2013 campaign on February 8th in Gaffney, South Carolina. In that match, the Saints captured a 6-3 victory over the Railsplitters behind a pair of doubles victories and wins at No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles.
The Saints will be led by the duel threat of Carlos Yanes and Rafael Ferla, as that duo has accumulated a 38-8 record this season with a combined 20-0 mark in Conference Carolinas play. Yanes posted a 19-4 record, all coming at No. 1 singles, while Ferla also notched a 19-4 mark at No. 2 singles. That tandem also boasted a 24-1 record at the No. 1 doubles spot. At No. 3 singles, Lucas Guinski accumulated a 15-7 record, while Benji Lascari Diaz tallied a 17-6 mark at No. 5.
Senior Philipp Hoffmann will lead the Railsplitters into the opening round matchup against the Saints, as the All-SAC First Team selection and SAC Championship MVP compiled a 15-3 mark at No. 1 singles this season including a win over the Saints' No. 1 singles player, Carlos Yanes. At doubles, Hoffmann and Alexey Minevskiy notched a 10-7 mark in the No. 1 position. Marcelo Alvim carries a 10-5 singles record and, along with doubles partner Will Sparks, a 16-2 doubles record. Gabriel Martins went 10-5 at No. 5 singles, while Guilherme Rocha notched a 10-4 record at No. 6.
Both the Railsplitters and the Saints come into that matchup playing their best tennis of the season, as the Lincoln Memorial has won six of their last seven matches, while Limestone has rattled off eight-straight wins.
Lincoln Memorial and Limestone are set to meet at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27th with the winner moving on to face No. 1 nationally-ranked and defending national champions Armstrong Atlantic on Sunday.
- Lincoln Memorial media relations
[Complete NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship bracket]