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CSM HOSTS REGION XX MEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT By Rick Coffin The College of Southern Maryland hosted the Region XX Tennis Tournament on Oct. 27 and 28. The early morning fog burned off and turned into a picture perfect day, with the temperature in the mid 70’s, as play began at 10:00 AM. Harford, Montgomery – Rockville, and CSM had full teams competing while Prince George’s sent two of their top players. Although they had a small squad, the two P.G. players had a strong showing. "I wish we could have sent a full team" said P.G. Coach Jerry Gardner, "but my #1 player Saeed Ashrafzodeh went into 3 sets before losing the final set (to CSM’s Danny Lee). My #2 singles player Angelo Cueto also went 3 sets before losing his final match to the eventual tournament champion (Robedio Guanzon of Harford)." Harford dominated the match, winning all but two of the matches they competed in and finishing with 16 points. In a tight battle for second place Montgomery – Rockville earned 6 points to edge CSM, who finished third with 5 points. In one of the best matches of the day, Danny Lee of CSM faced off against Ryan Finlayson of Harford. They had played two competitive matches during the regular season, with each player earning a win. Now they would play again for the Region XX #1 singles championship. Early in the first set, Danny Lee broke the stings in his racquet, but it didn’t affect his game, as each player took turns breaking the others serve. In the 9th game, Lee battled back from love - 40 to force deuce. After several heated volleys, Finlayson was able to break serve, and take a 5-4 lead in the set. Lee wasn’t through however as he broke Finlayson's serve right back to knot the set at 5 – 5. Finally, Ryan Finlayson was able to win the tiebreaker 7-3, to capture the first set. The second set picked right up where the first one ended, with a terrific first game. With Lee serving, he rallied back from love – 40 to force deuce. Finlayson proceeded to have 7 add-outs, while Lee had 3 add-ins, before Danny Lee was finally able to prevail. However Ryan Finlayson proceeded to come right back and tie the set at 1-1. The set continued back and forth, until Danny Lee gained some momentum at the end winning the set 6-3. Lee continued his momentum in the third set, breaking Finlayson’s serve in the 4th and 6th games, to capture the championship with a 6-3 victory. Commenting on the match Danny Lee said, "I felt sluggish in the first match. I was up in the first set, but couldn’t finish, and double faulted. As the match wore on, his serve didn’t have the same zip, and I was able to step up and cut angles. I saw him getting tired, and I felt my conditioning really paid off. He’s a great competitor, and it was a great match!" Ryan Finlayson agreed conditioning was a factor, " It was a tough struggle and he had more stamina. We had some long deuce games". College of Southern Maryland Coach Scott Lee commented on Lee’s win, "Danny’s win was inspiring because he’d played Ryan Finlayson six times in the USTA Juniors and never beaten him, and he lost to him the first match of the regular season. Lee finally beat Finlayson at home in a tight match. His confidence was improved, which allowed him to win the third set convincingly at 6-3." Harford Tennis Coach George Budelis looked forward to the Nationals, "Of course I am extremely pleased with the results and Harford will send a team to represent Region XX at nationals. The team I had last year finished 9th. This year’s team is much better and should be able to compete at the national level. The level of tennis improved this year for Region XX with Harford, Rockville, and CSM all improving over last year’s teams. Our region is competitive with other regions around the nation." TOURNAMENT RESULTS #1 SINGLES Danny Lee (CSM) defeated Ryan Finlayson (Harford) 6-7,6-3,6-3 #2 SINGLES Roberto Guanzon (Harford) defeated Scott Ruest (CSM) 6-2,6-3
#3 SINGLES Josh Zoltek (Harford) defeated John Dobson (Rockville) 3-6,6-3,6-2 #4 SINGLES Adam Kelso (Harford) defeated Chris Manolo 6-3,6-3 #5 SINGLES Lukasz Marcisz (Harford) defeated James LaPlanche (Rockville) 3-6,7-5,6-3 # 6 SINGLES Camilo Diaz Quiroba (Rockville) defeated Phil Vacek (Harford) 6-3,3-6,7-5
# 1 DOUBLES Ryan Finlayson and Roberto Guanzon (Harford) defeated Danny Lee and Troy Barricklow (CSM) 6-1,7-5 2nd DOUBLES Josh Zoltek and Adam Kelso (Harford) defeated Scott Ruest and George Steinback (CSM) 5-7,6-2,6-3 3rd DOUBLES Phil Vacek and Lukasz Marcisz (Harford) defeated Chris Manolo and Camilo Diaz Quiroba (Rockville) 6-3, 7-5 |