North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
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Powell Takes 3rd Place at Fab-4 Invitational
9/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 18, 2011
CARY, N.C. - For two guys who weren't even scheduled to play in NC State's first fall men's tennis tournament, freshmen Austin Powell and Robbie Mudge had pretty good collegiate debuts over the weekend.
Powell, a highly regarded recruit from Muscle Shoals, Ala., won third place in the White bracket of Duke's Nike Fab-4 Invitational Sunday at the Cary Tennis Park, with a 6-0, 6-3, win over North Carolina's William Parker in his final match.
Mudge, another highly touted newcomer from Mooresville, N.C., won Sunday in a walkover against Kentucky's Grant Roberts to take seventh place in the Blue bracket. He finished the tournament with a 2-2 record. Also playing in the Blue bracket, sophomore Matt Thomson won one of his two matches on Sunday.
Powell's success came against some of the most notable performers in the 48-player field. His only loss was against No. 24 ranked and eventual bracket winner Luka Somen of Virginia Tech, who entered the event as the second highest ranked player in the field.
Powell also defeated Duke freshman Raphael Hemmeler, who is ranked as one of the nation's top 10 freshmen going into the 2012 season, in a marathon match. After Powell took the first set 7-6, Hemmeler came back to win 6-7 (5). Powell dominated the decisive set with a 6-0 victory.
"It was a good debut for two players who weren't even supposed to be in the field," said NC State head coach Jon Choboy. "This tournament generally has the top four players from every team, so it was a strong field. For them to compete like they did was great for them individually and for our team."
Both Powell and Mudge were entered into the tournament when other players, including NC State junior Dave Thomson, withdrew because of injuries.
Sophomore Ivan Sanchez Gomez took seventh place in the Black bracket, after his opponent in his final match withdrew from the final day of play. All doubles action, which had been postponed from Saturday, was canceled except for the finals in each bracket.
"It was a long weekend, especially with the bad weather on Saturday," Choboy said. "We were still playing at midnight. Overall, thought, I thought it was a good showing.
The Wolfpack returns to action this coming weekend, with select players participating in two different three-day events. Two players will play in the Virginia +1 in Charlottesville, Va., and eight others will head to Athens, Ga., for the Southern Intercollegiate.
