Leborgne, Lion lead tennis at regionals
The GCSU men’s tennis team advanced two players into the second round after play Friday night in the ITA Southeast Regionals, hosted by Francis Marion University in Sumter, S.C.
With his performance in opening round play, junior Jerome Leborgne moved into the winner’s bracket of flight A singles by defeating Francis Marion’s Karl Rogers with a score of 6-3, 6-0.
Freshman Mario Cardenas grabbed a win in the first round by beating Pfeiffer University’s Stephen Tydnal by a 6-3, 6-3 score.
Leborgne had yet another strong day on Saturday, defeating two higher ranked opponents, the no.10 and no. 19 players, to advance to the semi-finals. His tournament run came up short though after he lost to the formerly top-ranked Eudaldo Bonet of Armstrong-Atlantic.
“I had a great result,” Leborgne said. “That’s a good start, but the most important thing is the spring, so I will have to stay focused and keep up this level of play. The tournaments showed that we are among the fittest, and that’s great to see our work pay off. The next step is to get strong mentally, and make the right decisions.”
The school also had two of their four teams in doubles advance into the second round before getting knocked out. Bobby Angelucci and Tyler Franks beat Limestone College’s Miguel Lopez Zungia and Jordan Vicain 8-6, but then lost in the following round to Armstrong Atlantic State University’s Pedro Scocuglia and Matus Mydla by way of shutout.
In the women’s tournament, all play for days three and four of the tournament were postponed due to inclement weather. On the first day of play, sophomore May Johnson and freshman Lisa Setyon each picked up first round victories.
Johnson beat Wingate’s Morgan Winston, 6-1, 6-3, while Setyon defeated Limestone College’s Jimena Munoz, 6-3, 6-0.
In doubles action Friday, senior Bertille Lion and sophomore Kayla Barksdale knocked off Flagler’s Rachel Gould and Lauren Pfeiffer, 8-3 before falling in a tough 9-7 bout with Columbus State’s Tracy Castillo and Renata Paiva in the Round of 16.
On Saturday, Lion, the No. 7 seed for Flight “A” singles, beat Lauren Trumbull, 6-0, 6-2 before losing to Castillo, 6-2, 6-1 in the Round of 16.
In the ‘A’ consolation bracket, sophomore Kim Lochner fell 6-1, 6-3 to Trumbull, and Seyton advanced to the quarterfinals. Barksdale knocked off Johnson in a clash of teammates before losing 7-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
The tournament marked the conclusion of the fall season for the men’s team. The women’s team will host the Georgia College Fall Championships this weekend beginning today and lasting through Sunday.
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