College Tennis News - FANSELOW REACHES SEMIFINALS AT INDOOR NATIONALS, WAVES CONTINUE WINNING WAYS IN FLORIDA AND CALIFORNIA

FLUSHING, N.Y. – It was a successful day for the Pepperdine men’s tennis team, who had players competing in New York, Florida and California. Sebastian Fanselow had perhaps the most impressive day, winning twice at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship to advance to the semifinal round.

Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan College Prep) found himself in a deadlock battle in the round of 16 of the men’s singles draw. The senior dropped the first set 4-6 to Julian Lenz of Baylor and fell behind a break in the second. Fanselow fought relentlessly, however, and came from behind to take the frame 6-4 to force a third set.

The momentum carried over into the deciding stanza as Fanselow won 6-3 to advance to the next round.

In his quarterfinal match up against local rival Raymond Sarmiento, ranked #9, Fanselow was solid and dropped the USC player 6-1, 6-2.

Tomorrow, in the semifinals, Fanselow will go up against #8-ranked and top seeded Alex Domijan of Virginia.

Meanwhile in Florida, Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) and Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Kihei, Hawaii/St. Anthony Junior-Senior HS) battled at the Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic, hosted by Dick Vitale.

Tanaka-Tamaki was victorious in his first round match, and rebounded from a first set loss to defeat Robbie Dubuque 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Tearney, top seeded for the second-straight tournament, downed Matt Browne of Furman, 7-5, 6-4.

Locally, David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Education HS) won his fourth-straight, topping BYU’s John Pearce, 6-1, 7-5.

Tomorrow in the quarterfinals, Sofaer will be tested by Thibaut Visy of West Coast Conference rival San Diego.

Be sure to follow @PeppTennis on Twitter for in match updates and other news. Full results and recaps for all three tournaments will be posted at PepperdineSports.com at the end of each day.

USTA/ITA National Indoor Championship

Nov 8-11, 2012 at Flushing, N.Y. (USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center)
R16 #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) def. Julian Lenz (Baylor) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
QF #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) def. #9 Ray Sarmiento (USC) 6-1, 6-2

Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic

Nov 9-11, 2012 at Sarasota, Fla. (Lakewood Ranch Country Club)

Singles

R32 Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Pepperdine) def. Robbie Dubuque (Florida Atlantic) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
R16 Andrew Vidaller (Arizona) def. Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-0
R16 #14 Finn Tearney (Pepperdine) def. Matt Browne (Furman) 7-5, 6-4

Southern California Intercollegiate

Nov 7-11, 2012 at Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles Tennis Center)

Singles

MD-R32 #63 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (Pepperdine) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
MD-R16 David Sofaer (Pepperdine) def. John Pearce (BYU) 6-1, 7-5
MD-R16 #119 Clarke Spinosa (San Diego) def. #63 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (Pepperdine) 6-4, 6-1
MD-QF David Sofaer (Pepperdine) vs. #91 Thibaut Visy (San Diego) no result
Cons. Ziad Sultan (UC Santa Barbara) def. Damian Gryzelko (Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles

MD-R16 Travis Fillmore/Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. Mousheg Hovhannisyan/Damian Gryzelko (Pepperdine) 8-1