LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | A pair of Alabama State tennis student-athletes,
Ion Efrim and
Urska Velec, claimed consolation championships and
Juan Rodriguez finished as the runner-up in championship play at the Grizzly Invitational over the weekend.
Rodriguez reached the championship match of Fight B singles before falling to Connor Genschaw of Emory in a hard-fought three set match 7-5, 3-6, 10-6. He reached the finals after dropping just one set in his first four matches of the tournament, beginning with a three-set victory (6-2, 3-6, 10-6) victory over Reinhardt's Marcel Fargier.
He followed that up with a straight set victory over Gabriel Bernardi of Tusculum 6-3, 6-2; before winning in straight sets over Pushkar Shinde of Emory 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Rodriguez was able to reach the finals with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Julien Pereira of Point.
A pair of student-athletes claimed consolation championships, including
Urska Velec in the Flight A Consolation bracket. After dropping her first match of the tournament to fall into the consolation bracket, Velec started her route to the championship with a 2-6, 6-2, 10-6 victory over Chiara Rebecchi of Georgia Gwinnett; before defeating her teammate
Gabriela Lackova 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 to reach the championship match.
In the championship match, Velec played and won her third consecutive three-set match with a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8 victory over Deborah Scurt of Georgia Gwinnett.
Meanwhile, Efrim claimed the Men's Consolation A singles championship after dropping his first match of the tournament. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the bracket with an 8-3 victory over Alex Rabinowitz of Emory; before moving to the semifinals with a 6-0, 7-6 (5) victory over Satoshi Yamada of Bluefield.
Efrim would advance to the finals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Joe Kiokow of Point; before claiming the championship with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 victory over teammate
Alexis Collard. The sophomore reached the championship match against Efrim with an 8-2 victory over Frederico Barbon of Point in the opening round of the consolation bracket, before winning a 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 match over Sam Alexander of Reinhardt. He reached the championship match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Michael Gutu of Bluefield.
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