University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
ITA Regional
Conkic, Williams Earn Finals Victory Over Sandgren, Smith
October 26, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 26, 2009
By Monday morning, there was no doubt that a Tennessee doubles team would win the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships in Bloomington, Ind.
After both teams won their semifinals matches, junior Boris Conkic and freshman Rhyne Williams defeated top-ranked senior Davey Sandgren and junior John-Patrick Smith 8-6 in the championship match.
It was Conkic's second doubles title of the season. He also won the ITA All-American title with Smith on Oct. 11. With the victory, he improved to 12-1 this season and 5-1 against ranked opponents. Conkic and Williams improved their record as a pair to 7-1.
"As a spectator today, it was interesting to watch because I knew this was going to be a competitive match," Tennessee head coach Sam Winterbotham said. "There were lots of bragging rights on the line. Rhyne and Boris did a great job."
Conkic and Williams, who were seeded sixth, picked up a break point early in the match and led the rest of the way. Sandgren and Smith had not had a serve broken until the championship match.
Smith had won his first 12 doubles matches of the season -- the longest winning streak of his career. He did not compete this weekend in singles and still has his 10-match winning streak intact going into the next tournament.
Sandgren and Smith, who reached the NCAA finals in May, dropped to 7-1 this season. They already have one tournament victory this year: the top flight of the UVa Ranked Plus One Invitational.
The Vols have won seven tournament titles this fall, four of them coming in doubles play.
In the semifinals, Conkic and Williams defeated Vanderbilt's Ryan Lipman and Vijay Paul 8-3. Sandgren and Smith won 8-4 over Kentucky's Brad Cox and Eric Quigley.
With the tournament victory, Conkic and Williams automatically qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships, which begins Nov. 5 in New Haven, Conn. Sandgren and Smith, as the top-ranked team, could reach the tournament with an at-large bid from the ITA.
Smith automatically qualified for the singles competition after his tournament victory at the All-American.
The Vols return to the courts Friday for a pair of tournaments: the Alabama Invitational in Tuscaloosa and the Texas Invitational in Austin.
ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships
Bloomington, Ind.
Doubles
Semifinals
Sandgren/Smith, UT, def. Cox/Quigley, Kentucky, 8-4
Conkic/Williams, UT, def. Lipman/Paul, Vanderbilt, 8-3
Finals
Conkic/Williams, UT, def. Sandgren/Smith, UT, 8-6
Players Mentioned
