University of Tennessee Athletics
Smith cruises to quarters at NCAA Singles
May 23, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Tennessee men???s tennis player J.P. Smith crushed ETSU???s Enrique Olivares in straight-sets Friday to advance to the quarterfinals in the NCAA Singles Championships played at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
???J.P. is playing very well right now,??? head coach Sam Winterbotham said. ???He is focused and playing very confidently. J.P. beat a very good player pretty convincingly today, but he???ll have another good player to go up against tomorrow. He just needs to take it one match at a time and he???ll be fine.???
Smith has been on cruise control the entire tournament as the SEC Freshman of the Year has yet to drop a set in his three match run to the quarterfinals. Smith dropped Olivares 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 16 to advance.
The Australia native is now 32-10 on the season and 15-8 against ranked opponents. The Big Orange netter faces 32nd-ranked Steven Moneke of Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
Smith???s run is the furthest a UT player has advanced in the tournament since Chris Woodruff won the tournament in 1993.
Live scoring for all tournament matches can be found at??tulsahurricane.com.
VOLS FINISH NINTH IN FINAL ITA TEAM RANKINGS
The Tennessee men???s tennis team finished ninth in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings released Friday. It marks the highest finish for UT since 2002 when the Big Orange finished sixth.
The Georgia Bulldogs finished No. 1 after winning the national championship for the second consecutive season. Virginia was second, Ohio State third, national runner-up Texas was fourth and UCLA rounded out the top-five.
NCAA Championships - Fri., May 23
Singles - Round of 16
No. 24 J.P. Smith (UT) def. No. 57 Enrique Olivares (ETSU) 6-2, 6-2
