Men’s Tennis Wins Stillman Invitational, Defeats Fisk in Semifinals and Stillman in Finals

Tuscaloosa, AL—The Marion Military Institute men's tennis team tackled Fisk University, 5-0, in the semifinal match of the Stillman Invitational Tennis Tournament to set up the final pairing of Marion Military Institute and Stillman College.  In the championship match, MMI scored four singles wins and two doubles wins to claim the title, 6-2.

In the semifinal matchup between MMI and Fisk University, the Tigers had little trouble in dismissing the Fisk Bulldogs, 5-0.  Kaiser De Leon, Morgan Hale, Andrew Wright, Patrick Ryder, and Javier de Claire marched through the opposition to the final match.

In the finals, MMI produced some of its finest tennis of the two-day tournament.  The four MMI singles wins included Kaiser De Leon's win over Joan Sanson, 6-3, 6-0; Morgan Hale's win over Alehandro Fernandez, 7-5, 6-0; Andrew Wright's win over Yonwaba Pupuma, 6-1, 6-0; and Marty Birchmeier's win over Eddie Symmonett, 6-1, 6-0.  MMI's two losses occurred at No. 4 singles (Jose Pojasi defeated Patrick Ryder, 6-3, 6-3) and No. 5 singles (Fernando Garcia downed Javier de Claire, 4-6, 6-2, 10-7).

In doubles play, MMI's No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams finished almost simultaneously.  Hale and Wright secured an 8-4 win over Pupuma and Pojasi, and De Leon and de Claire defeated Sanson and Garcia 8-4.  Patrick Ryder and Marty Birchmeier led 6-5 in their match with Symmonett and Fernandez when the match reached its conclusion.

The Tigers host the Meridian Community College Eagles on Tuesday, April 7, in a 1:00 p.m. match.