Monday, 10/05/2009

TULSA, Okla. – Sophomore Carl Ho picked up a third set tiebreaker win over Edgar Rodriguez in round four of the ITA All-American pre-qualifying today, winning 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (4) to advance to the qualifying rounds, which begin Monday, Oct. 5. Ho, who finished 2009 with nine straight singles wins, will face sophomore Matt Kecki of USC, the reigning NCAA national champions.

“I am very proud of Carl as he came through today in very tough, damp and cold conditions,” men’s tennis assistant coach Bart Scott said. “He started slow, but as Carl always does, worked himself into the match, eventually breaking Rodriguez down before winning it in a super tiebreaker for the third set.”

After receiving a first round bye, Ho picked up a 7-6, 6-3 win over Iowa’s Will Vasos in round two on Saturday before jumping to round four via an opponent default in round three.

Three Lobos fell short in round three of the pre-qualifying. Joe Wood lost to Kentucky’s Alberto Gonzalez, 6-2, 6-0, while Conor Berg and Jadon Phillips succumbed to Mountain West Conference foes. Berg lost 6-1, 6-1, to UNLV’s Mehdi Bouras and Phillips lost to San Diego State’s Juan Gomez, 6-2, 6-4.

The Lobos will host their next fall team event, the annual Balloon Fiesta Invite, at the Linda Estes Tennis Center Oct. 9-11.