North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Southern Intercollegiate
Powell Falls in Div. II Southern Intercollegiate Championships Finals
9/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 26, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. – NC State freshman men’s tennis player Austin Powell fell in the Division II finals of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships on Monday morning, losing to Kentucky’s Alejandro Gomez, 6-3, 6-3.
It was just the second collegiate tournament for Powell, a native of Muscle Shoals, Ala., who made his debut last weekend at Duke’s Nike Fab-4 Invitational in Cary. Powell won his first five matches, including a three-set victory on Sunday over freshman teammate Robbie Mudge in the semifinals, to reach the Division II championship match in the prestigious tournament, which had three singles brackets and two doubles brackets.
“It was definitely a good weekend for our team,” said head coach Jon Choboy. “The field was exceptional and getting one of our guys to the finals in one of the brackets is good for the program. I was proud of the way Austin played.
“He met a guy in the finals who is very talented who had played well all weekend.”
Powell was up 3-2 in the first set, but Gomez stormed back to win 6-3, a score he matched in the second set. Though disappointed by Monday’s outcome, Powell was excited about his overall performance in the tournament after winning his first four matches in straight sets.
“More than anything it was good experience to play against a lot of good people, especially in that last match,” Powell said. “It was a good learning experience.
"It’s a good glimpse of things I need to improve on in my game to be able to compete at this level.”
Choboy was also pleased with Mudge’s play throughout the weekend. Sophomore Sean Weber improved from last weekend and junior Will Rollinson played well in his first tournament of the fall, Choboy said.
“All of our guys played better in this second tournament, which is to be expected,” Choboy said. “We hope to keep improving at this same rate.”
Select NC State players will compete next week in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The field for that weeklong event will be announced late Monday.
