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Men's Tennis eliminated in 5-1 loss to No. 6 Westmont College
MOBILE, Ala. -- Shorter University's run at the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship was cut short with a 5-1 loss to sixth-seeded Westmont College (Calif.) on Wednesday in the second round of tournament play at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.
The 11th-ranked Hawks pulled out an 8-6 victory at No. 2 doubles behind the combination of Guillaume Ledrap and Eric Tucoulou, but that was the only match win Shorter would muster as Westmont advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal round where it will take on third-seeded Auburn University-Montgomery.
Shorter (13-5), which defeated unranked Hastings College (Neb.) 8-1 in Tuesday's first round, couldn't get on track against the Warriors (13-5), who are making their second straight trip to the national tournament and third overall.
Shorter's Badr Cherradi and Grayson Jones went down 8-4 at No. 1 doubles to Westmont's Carlos Lima and Bryan Cox. Westmont's Tiago Hayashi and Kent Stormans scored an 8-5 victory over Shorter's Bastien Russo and Thibault Langeard at No. 3 doubles to take a 2-1 lead entering the singles portion of the match.
There, Westmont kept its foot on the gas and never let up.
Lima beat Ledrap 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Tim Goranson posted a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Tucoulou at No. 3 singles and Hayashi's 6-2, 6-0 win over Langeard at No. 4 singles sealed the victory for the Warriors.
Cherradi took the first set from Cox in their battle at No. 2 singles, which was cut short due to Westmont clinching five victories in the match.
Despite the second round exit, 2011 marked another successful season for head coach Orville Adams and the Hawks.
Shorter advanced to the Southern States Athletic Conference championship match to position itself for one of 11 at-large bids into the national tournament. The Hawks made their 10th appearance in the national championships and are now 11-10 all-time in national tournament play.
Cherradi and Ledrap were named to the All-SSAC team for their efforts this season.
