Oct. 24, 2002
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Georgia Tech junior men’s tennis player West Nott picked up his third-straight victory and advanced out of the qualifying draw and into the main draw of the ITA Region II Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was joined in the main draw by the Yellow Jackets’ doubles team of Joao Menano and Jason Pieters, who also advanced out of the qualifier on Thursday, before falling in the first round of the main draw in the afternoon.
Nott had to go to a decisive third set for the second time in as many matches on the second day of play, as he rallied to defeat Charleston Southern’s Viktor Koczan. Nott dropped the first set by a 6-1 score and then held on for a 7-5 win in the second frame. He had little trouble disposing of Koczan in the third set, picking up a 6-2 win to claim the match. Nott will now face ninth-seeded Doug Stewart of Virginia in the first round of the main draw on Friday at 8 a.m.
In doubles action, Tech’s team of Menano and Pieters picked up a pair of wins to reach the main draw on Thursday. The duo opened the day with a solid win over Duke’s Stephen Amritraj and Ludovic Walter by an 8-4 score. Menano and Pieters then upended William & Mary’s team of Alex Fish and Stephen Ward by an 8-5 count in the quarterfinals. In the main draw, Duke’s tandem of Jonathan Stokke and Jason Zimmerman proved to be too much as they eliminated Menano and Pieters by an 8-5 count.
The Jackets’ other doubles team of Nott and Fabio Campos won their second-round match with Hampton’s team of Leonardo Casadei and Valter Paiva in hard-fought fashion by a 9-8 (6). The duo then dropped its match with Duke’s Ryan Heinberg and Peter Schults by an 8-6 score.
The main draw of singles play will get under way on Friday morning, with the tournament continuing through the weekend. The winners and runners-up of the singles event and the doubles champions will advance to the National Indoor Championships on Nov. 7-10 in Dallas, Texas. Full tournament results for the ITA Region II Championships are available at www.tennisinformation.com. The tournament identification number is 2882858.
