Tigers Play Well in Reinhardt Fall Classic

Canton, GA—The Marion Military Institute Tigers traveled to Georgia this weekend to participate in the Reinhardt Fall Classic at the BridgeMill Tennis Club, a beautiful 25-court facility.  Teams competing in the tournament included host school Reinhardt University (Waleska, GA), Montreat College (Montreat, NC), Fisk University (Nashville, TN), and Marion Military Institute (Marion, AL).  The teams were divided into three brackets (A, B, and C) in singles and doubles play.   

Kaiser De Leon fell in the A finals, 6-2, 6-3, to Reinhardt's Maks Yorsh.  On his way to the finals, De Leon defeated two Reinhardt players (Nico Duarte [6-3, 6-3] and Emory Deloach [6-3, 6-1]).

"Kaiser played well throughout the tournament," Coach Wright said.  "He played some great tennis against Duarte, and he dismantled Deloach in the second set after winning a fairly close first set."

Also in A bracket action, Morgan Hale defeated Fisk's Eric Alexander, 6-0, 6-2, before falling to Montreat's Ramiro Urreta, 6-1, 6-4.  Hale staged a comeback in the second set against Urreta and was on the verge of tying the second set at 5-all but came up just short.  Andrew Wright lost in the first round to the tournament's No. 2-seeded player, Reinhardt's Emory Deloach, 7-5, 6-2.

The B bracket was unkind to the Tigers as Reinhardt's Nikita Hrynov downed Marty Birchmeier, 6-0, 6-2, Reinhardt's Anton Zimin defeated Philip Patton, 6-4, 6-2, and Montreat's Matteo Barroetevena bageled Shane McDonough, 6-0, 6-0.  Patrick Ryder tallied the only win for MMI in the B bracket with his 6-0, 6-1 win over Fisk's Cory Carter before losing in the next round to Montreat's Barroetevena, 6-3, 6-1.

The C bracket saw MMI's Ben Jandzinski defeat Reinhardt's Steven Sepulveda, 7-5, 6-0, and then lose to Montreat's Juan Salgado, 6-1, 6-3.

In an anticlimactic A doubles final, Hale and Wright won in a walkover as Reinhardt's Yorsh and Hrynov had to withdraw due to Yorsh's severe leg cramps.  Hale and Wright played some sparkling tennis in the previous round, though, defeating Montreat's Urreta and Barroetavena in a finely played match, 8-5.

The Tigers will complete their fall season with a home match versus the Meridian Community College Eagles on Friday, November 7.  Match play will start promptly at 1:00 p.m.