ATHENS, Ga. — LSU freshman tennis player Peter Richman advanced to the round of 16 of the Southern Collegiate Championships on Saturday, as the highly-touted Tiger defeated Georgia’s Ion Vlad in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, here in Athens, Ga.
“This has been a great opportunity for our younger players,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “It’s good to watch them play competitively, because we can gain some good information about how they will perform when a match is on the line. It’s hard to get that same assessment when they’re playing against each other in practice.”
Richman then moved on to play Alabama-Birmingham’s Tobias Klein in the round of 16 of the Division II singles draw. In a Saturday evening match at the Dan Magill Tennis Center, Richman failed to capitalize in a first-set tiebreaker and fell, 7-6(5). UAB’s Klein is the 16th-seeded player in the tournament.
Also in Division II singles play, LSU’s Sebastian Rutka and Jason Hazley lost in the second round of play. Rutka fell to South Carolina’s seventh-seeded Carl Wermee in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, while Hazley was defeated by Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Thomas Knizat, 7-6(4), 6-3.
In doubles play, the Tigers’ 10th-seeded combination of Richman/Rutka dropped Troy State’s pair comprised of Martinez/Vargas, 9-7. Richman and Rutka were scheduled to play in the quarterfinal round at 9:15 p.m. (Central time) on Saturday.
Play will resume at the Southern Collegiate Championships Sunday morning at 8 a.m. here at the Dan Magill Tennis Center here in Athens, Ga.
Division II Singles Draw Second Round
Peter Richman (LSU) def. Ion Vlad (UGA), 6-2, 6-4.
#7 Carl Wermee (USC) def. Sebastian Rutka (LSU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
Thomas Knizat (UTC) def. #12 Jason Hazley (LSU), 7-6(4), 6-3.
Round of 16
#16 Tobias Klein (UAB) def. Peter Richman (LSU), 7-6(5), 6-2.
Division I Doubles Draw Round of 16
#10 Richman/Rutka (LSU) def. Martinez/Vargas (Troy St.), 9-7.
Acacil/Hoyem (Murray St.) def. #13 Fisher/Hazley (LSU), 8-2.