Tiger Tennis Players Lose at ITA Nationals on Thursday

Mobile. Alabama - Both Trinity University Tigers entries were eliminated from the Division III main-draw contention Thursday at the USTA/Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championships at Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.
 
Christopher Newport's Matthew King and Eric Shulman upset the third-seeded Trinity men's doubles team of senior Max Frey and junior Erick DelaFuente 7-5, 2-6, 16-14 (tiebreak instead of third set) in the quarterfinals.
 
Tiger first-year player Mackenzie Knoop (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Academy) lost 6-1, 6-4 to third-seeded Kendra Higgins of the University of Chicago in the quarters of women's singles.
 
The team of Frey/DelaFuente, and Knoop, will begin consolation play Friday.
 
The tiebreak of the men's doubles match was a wild affair, to say the least. Frey (Tulsa, Okla./Holland Hall) and DelaFuente (El Paso, Texas/Coronado) saved four match points in the tiebreak, and gave up two others while leading.
 
Frey and DelaFuente will play in the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday against DePauw's Sam Miles and Ben Kopecky. A win would put the Trinty duo in the fifth-place match at 3:30 p.m.
 
Knoop plays Wisconsin-Whitewater's Kalla Schaefer at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the consolation semis. The winners advance to Saturday's fifth-place match-up at 8:30 a.m.
 
All participants earned trips to the ITA Nationals by winning regional tournaments.