SUMTER, S.C. – The Georgia College Men's Tennis squad got the fall tournament season underway Friday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regionals. The Bobcats picked up four victories on the day and have two singles players and a doubles pairing still alive.
Newcomer Gabriel Cizek (Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic) made his presence known, advancing to the round of 32 with a pair of singles wins. He started the morning with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Manav Sreekumar of Emmanuel College and then followed that up with a upset of No. 3-seed Tommaso Schold of Columbus State University 7-6(5), 6-1. Cizek begins tomorrow's action with No. 16-seed Francesco Bonacia of Tusculum University at noon.
Pulling in the No. 9-seed, Karol Malirz (Marbella, Spain) also advances to the round of 32. After a first-round bye, he outlasted Matthew De Groot of Lander University 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. Malirz will play No. 16-seed Sebastian Murillo tomorrow at noon.
Newcomer Masumi Komada's (Aichi, Japan) singles effort finished with a three-set marathon loss to Kristoffer Stahlbrand of Barton College 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Sophomore Enzo Sergi (Nice, France) also fell in the first round, 6-3, 6-3 to Peter Lemken.
Cizek and Malirz teamed for an 8-5 win in the opening round of doubles play, beating Thiabaut Decaluwe and Sean Keane of Coker University. The Bobcat duo's round of 32 showdown brings No. 8 seed Rhodri Atkinson and Patrik Alvestrand of Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Komada and Sergi teamed for an 8-6 loss to Enzo Blavignat and Mateo Bivol of Newberry College.
Cizek and Malirz get things started tomorrow, Sept. 25 at 8 a.m. in doubles action.
The proud recipients of the 2021 PBC Sportsmanship Institution of the Year, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GC Athletics is now two-time winners of both the PBC Commissioner's Cup and the league's sportsmanship honor. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in post-season competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics holds to the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life". Sign up at @GCBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports.
