PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Lee University tennis teams competed in the 2019 USTA/ITA Division II South Region Championships hosted this past weekend by the University of West Florida.
"Our players competed well this weekend," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "The South Region is the toughest in the country and we proved to ourselves that we have the talent to have another successful year. We leave here with a much better understanding of what we need to do in order to improve. I'm proud of how our players represented themselves and Lee."
The Flames were represented by Jesus Garcia, Cristian Pons, Antonio Pons and Bruno Medeiros, while Micaela Belen Maiz and Lisa Kirr were the only Lady Flames to participate.
All five men's players lost their opening singles matches and were placed into the consolation bracket.
Jesus Garcia overcame a three-set loss in his opening match with five straight wins, including a 6-3, 6-2 advantage over Tanguy David of Montevallo in the consolation final.
Cristian Pons rattled off three wins in the consolation before falling in three sets to Garcia in the semifinal. Antonio Pons and Medeiros completed the weekend with a 1-2 record.
In doubles action, Medeiros and Antonio Pons won their first three matches before being edged 8-7 in the semifinal. Garcia and Cristian Pons lost their first match and were placed into the consolation bracket where they advanced to the semifinal before being bumped 8-6.
"Bruno and Antonio played phenomenal doubles all weekend," added Hynes. "For a pair that we only put together a couple of weeks ago, they showed incredible discipline and desire. I think the thing impressed me the most was that they didn't just settle for one good result. They stayed hungry all weekend and can take a lot of heart away from what they achieved. Their best tennis is still ahead of them and this should show them and their teammates that they can mix it with anyone."
For the Lady Flames, Kirr went 1-1 in singles action. Maiz lost her first singles match and entered the consolation bracket where she won her next two matches before retiring in the consolation quarterfinal. Maiz and Kirr were 0-2 in doubles competition.
