FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Young Harris College men's tennis team participated in the Methodist University Best 2-of-3 Tournament last weekend.
"We enjoyed the unique format of the tournament," said senior Guilherme Frias. "Getting to combine an individual tournament feel while playing with a partner made it a fun and challenging weekend."
The first round started Friday (Oct. 3) with some tough matchups for the Mountain Lions. Sebastian and William Edin took down a tough pair from Bluefield State College. The doubles score was 8-1 for the YHC duo. In singles, Sebastian Edin took his singles match 6-3, 6-4, while William Edin cruised 6-0, 6-0. The pair of Frias and Raul Quevedo continued the momentum they had from the ITA Regional tournament, taking the doubles match against a pair from Guilford College 8-0. Frias and Quevedo followed their doubles performance with a solid singles showing; winning 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-0, respectively. Daniel Tiboldi and Cole Cates had a tougher matchup against a pair from the host school Methodist. The Mountain Lions lost the doubles matchup 8-5. Tiboldi pulled out a win at singles 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), while Cates dropped his match 6-3, 6-2.
In the second round of the main draw, Sebastian and William Edin continued their strong doubles play by taking the doubles match 8-2 against a tough pair from Guilford College. The brothers proved to be too strong in singles, taking the matches 6-3, 6-4 for Sebastian and 6-0, 6-1 for William. Frias and Quevedo found a tougher match against a pair from Barton College, but the Mountain Lions held on for a 8-6 doubles victory. In singles, Frias had to come back to win after dropping his first set. He prevailed 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10). Quevedo was pushed hard in his match, but held on 6-2, 6-4. In the consolation draw, Tiboldi and Cates moved on win a victory of Guilford College. The doubles match went 8-1 to the Mountain Lions and the pair took the singles matches 6-0, 6-2 and 6-3, 6-4 respectively.
The third round started Saturday (Oct. 4) afternoon. Frias and Quevedo made quick work of the pair from Methodist. Frias went the round without dropping a game as the pair took the doubles 8-0 and his singles match was 6-0, 6-0. Quevedo won his match 6-0, 6-3. The Edin brothers faced a team from 25th-ranked University of Mount Olive. The Edins took the doubles match 8-5. In singles, Sebastian had to survive a super-tiebreak in the third set to win 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (7). William kept his singles momentum going with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Tiboldi and Cates saw their tournament come to an end against the Methodist as the pair dropped what proved to be a crucial doubles match 9-8 (5). The singles matches were split as Tiboldi won 6-0, 6-2 and Cates lost 6-3, 6-4.
The semifinals had two pairs from YHC paired against the top two pairs from Mount Olive. Frias and Quevedo showed they were up to the challenge as they took the doubles match 8-0. In singles, Frias never let up as he won 6-2, 6-1. Quevedo stayed just a strong; winning his matchup 6-2, 6-3. On the other side of the bracket, William and Sebastian lost the doubles match 8-6. Following the doubles loss, the brothers knew they had to take both singles matches to move into the finals. Sebastian Edin won his matchup 6-1, 6-3 to keep their chances alive. William Edin then pushed the pair into the finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Since the finals of the tournament featured two teams from YHC, the Mountain Lion pairs of Frias and Quevedo, and Sebastian Edin and William Edin were declared co-champions of the tournament.
"It was great to see our guys never give up," said head coach Barrett Elkins. "Hopefully, we can take the momentum from this tournament, continue to improve, and start our regular season strong in February. I am very proud of these results and the energy they all showed on court."
The Mountain Lions open their spring season Feb. 7 with a 1 p.m. match at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
