SUMTER, S.C. --- Tashique Kader defeated teammate Yago Fernandez in an all-Tusculum College finals Monday afternoon at the Southeast Regional Small College ITA/Oracle Men's Tennis Championships, hosted by the Palmetto Tennis Center this weekend.
Both Kader and Fernandez lost their opening singles matches on Friday, then came all the way back through the Flight A consolation bracket to meet in the final round. Kader dropped the first set 7-5, then came back to win the second set 6-2 to set up a 10-point tiebreaker for the championship. Kader took the tiebreaker by a 10-3 score to win the consolation bracket.
Kader beat Jeffrey Dayton of Anderson 6-0, 6-1 in the consolation first round on Saturday, then beat Jannik Roettlingsberger of Francis Marion 6-2, 6-2 in the third round before defeating Mark Watt of Coker 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Kader advanced by walkover in the semifinals to advance to the final round against Fernandez.
Fernandez started consolation play on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Ogulcan Deniz of Mount Olive. He then beat Nikolai Surh of Erskine 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the third round on Sunday, and received a walkover victory in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Fernandez defeated Xavier Marti of Lincoln Memorial 6-3, 6-2 to move into the finals against Kader.
In Flight B of singles, Eduardo Munoz and David Siegle each advanced into the round of 16 with a pair of victories. Munoz beat Jaime Gusano of USA Aiken 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in his opening match while Siegle downed Andre Andre of Erskine 6-4, 6-2. Toby de Klerk also had a first-round win with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Matheo Espinoza of Francis Marion, before falling in the Round of 32.
Munoz and Siegle used different paths to move into the Round of 16 on Saturday. Munoz claimed a 6-0, 6-0 win over Luis Salcedo of Lander, while Siegle fought his way to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Woj Adamek of USC Aiken. However, both Munoz and Siegle were eliminated in straight sets in the Round of 16 on Sunday.
Also in singles action, Fabian Paier dropped his first match in Flight B on Friday, but won his first-round consolation match over Isaac Giddens of Erskine by a 6-0, 6-0 score on Saturday. Paier was then eliminated Sunday in the third round of consolations.
In doubles, Paier and Siegle competed in Flight B and won their first match by default, before being eliminated in the Round of 16 on Saturday. Kader and de Klerk were in Flight A of doubles but dropped their opening-round match on Friday.
The Pioneers continue their fall schedule on Saturday, October 8 at 10 a.m. with a match against Virginia-Wise at the Nichols Tennis Complex.