May 15, 1998

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Four Southeastern Conference schools survived the heat in day one action of the NCAA Regional Tournament held at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center Friday.

The No. 2 seeded Tennessee, who fought through a tough match over No. 7 South Florida 4-1, might have to undergo line-up changes in Saturday’s semifinal round against Auburn. The Volunteer’s No. 4 seed Paul Podbury was taken to the UK hospital due to extreme muscle cramps after he played doubles and singles matches.

“At home, we have been playing indoors so we were not used to the heat,” Tennessee’s No. 1 player Mark Way said. “In the beginning of my match I lost two serves and I started to get very tired. I think I relaxed too much and I was sweating real hard so I took a shower during the 10-minute break between sets. I then tried to stay focused and not worry about the heat.”Also advancing was the tournament’s No.1 seed Florida over No.8 Tulane, 4-0 and No. 3 seeded Auburn over No. 6 South Alabama. “The score may have been 4-0, but this was a tough match,” Auburn Coach Eric Shore stated. “We got out to an early lead in doubles, but South Alabama fought back. We won four of the six first sets in singles and were able to keep the momentum.”

Host team Kentucky, ranked 22nd in the nation, lost a heart-breaking match to 28th-ranked Alabama, 4-0. The Cats fought hard but could not prevail over the Crimson Tide who won at No. 1, 3 and 4 singles and also captured the doubles point. This was the final match for the Wildcats and for seniors Marcus Fluitt, Cedric Kauffmann, Micheal Meier and Daniel Spaner. NCAA competition continues at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on Saturday at noon with No. 2 Tennessee versus No. 3 Auburn. The second match begins at 4 p.m. with No. 1 Florida against No. 5 Alabama.

AGATENo. 2 Tennessee 4, No. 7 South Florida 1 Men's singles1. Mark Way (T) def. Fabio Tintori  (SF) 7-5,2-6,7-5 2. Mark Fitzpatrick (T) vs. Boris Babic (SF)   susp. 3. Matt Parsons (T) def. Matt Guyaux (SF) 4-6,6-0,6-4 4. Paul Podbury (T) vs. Aleks Popovic (SF) susp. 5. Chad Chopenhaver (T) def. Silviu Nistor (SF) 6-2,6-2 6. Juan Gamboa (T) def. Jay Shah (SF) 6-2,6-4 

Men’s doubles1. Way/Copenhaver (T) vs. Nistor/Tintori (SF) susp. 2. Parker/Lit (SF) def. Podbury/Gamboa (T) 8-5 3. Babic/Popovic (SF) def. Fitzpatrick/Parsons (T) 8-2

No. 3 Auburn 4, No. 6 South Alabama 0Men’s singles1. Lee Pearson (AU) vs. Nic Chisholm (SA) susp. 2. Steve Huss (AU) vs. John James (SA) susp. 3. Rene Moller (AU) def. Claes Westlin (SA) 6-3, 6-2 4. Georges Matijasevic (AU) vs. Johan Westberg (SA) susp. 5. Christain Limbart (AU) def. Laszlo Rethelyi (SA) 6-4, 6-4 6. Marcel Mizerski (AU) def. Paul McInterney (SA)7-6(1), 6-3

Men’s doubles1. Huss/Pearson (AU) def. Westlin/James (SA) 8-2 2. Matijasevic/Moller (AU) def. Chisholm/Westberg (SA) 8-5 3. Limbart/Mizerski (AU) vs. Rethelyi/Homedes (SA) susp.

No. 1 Florida 4, No. 8 Tulane 0Men’s singles1. Jon Glover (F) vs. Robert Samuelsson (T) susp. 2. Justin O’Neal (F) def. Dennis Lundberg (T) 6-1,6-1 3. Nathan Overholser (F) vs. Ronald Kloppert (T) susp. 4. Jeff Morrison (F) vs. Mikke Viljanen (T) susp. 5. Jack Whigham (F) def. Pekka Rinne (T) 6-2,6-3 6. Amr El Sawaf (F) def. James Moeckel (T) 6-3,6-3

Men’s doubles

1. Overholser/Morrison (F) def. Samuelsson/Kloppert (T) 8-3 2. El Sawaf/Glover (F) vs. Lundberg/Viljanen (T) susp. 3. Whigham/O’Neal (F) def. Rinne/Chip Kelly (T) 8-3

No. 5 Alabama 4, No. 4 Kentucky 0Men’s singles1. Francisco Rodriquez (A) def. Cedric Kauffmann (K) 6-3,6-1 2. Marcus Fluitt (K) vs. Chris Lopez (A) susp. 3. Ariel Rivero (A) def. Daniel Spaner (K) 6-2,6-3 4. Alin Taranga (A) def. Carlos Drada (K) 6-4,6-3 5. Johan Hesoun (K) vs. Graydon Oliver (A) susp. 6. Edo Bawono (K) vs. Mason Snider (A) susp.

Men’s doubles1.Rodriquez/Rivero (A) def. Fluitt/Hesoun (K) 8-6 2.Kauffmann/Drada (K) vs. Oliver/Chang (A) susp. 3. Taranga/Lopez (A) def. Bawono/Spaner (K) 9-8(3)