Oct. 4, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - Texas A&M men's tennis players Kayvon Karimi (pronounced KAY-von KUH-ree-me) and Colin Hoover reached the round of 32 in the pre-qualifying draw of the D'Novo ITA All-American Championships held Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
Karimi, a sophomore right-hander from Dallas, upset 17th-seeded Albert Jou of Tulsa on his home court, 6-2, 6-3, in the second round and followed it up with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Patrick Bandy of Kentucky in the third round. He is now on a three-match win streak leading into tomorrow's round of 32 matchup with top-seeded Tyler Hochwalt of Florida in college tennis' top fall tournament.
Hoover, a freshman from Victoria, Texas, also moved on to the round of 32 with a well-played three-set match victory over Jaime Pulger of North Carolina State, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. He will face Jordi Ballester of Jacksonville tomorrow and has compiled a team-leading 4-1 record in fall tournament play thus far.
Ninth-seeded Chris Chirico, a junior from Philadelphia, defeated Nicholas Boulieris of Marquette, 6-3, 7-5, in the second round, but later fell to Jorge Vasquez of Memphis, 6-4, 7-5, in the third round.
Competition in the pre-qualifying draw continues tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m. The qualifying draw begins on Monday with sophomores Wil Spencer (Ponce de Leon, Fla.) competing in singles. The main draw will commence on Thursday.
D'NOVO ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 3-12, 2008
Michael D. Case Tennis Center
at Tulsa, Okla.
PREQUALIFYING DRAW SINGLES
Round of 128
Kayvon Karimi (Texas A&M) def. (17) Albert Jou (Tulsa), 6-2, 6-3.
(9) Chris Chirico (Texas A&M) def. Nicholas Boulieris (Marquette), 6-3, 7-5.
Derek Stephens (North Carolina State) def. Austin Klores (Texas A&M), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Round of 64
Kayvon Karimi (Texas A&M) def. Patrick Bandy (Kentucky), 6-4, 6-3.
Colin Hoover (Texas A&M) def. Jaime Pulger (North Carolina State), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Jorge Vasquez (Memphis) def. (9) Chris Chirico (Texas A&M), 6-4, 7-5.