UA men's tennis freshman Luka Cerenko advanced to the semifinals of the singles Flight C bracket before falling at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships this weekend.
Cerenko, the second-seeded player in his bracket, lost to Joe Bates of Wake Forest 6-3, 6-2 on the campus of host school Alabama.
He also defeated Christian Rybertt of Samford, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarterfinals and Wake Forest's John Shults, 6-4, 6-0, in the round of 16 after receiving a first-round bye due to his high seeding.
Sophomore Jason Labrosse and junior Tim Mullane joined Cerenko in Tuscaloosa, but did not fare as well in singles play.
Labrosse beat Southern Mississippi's Juan Garzon, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Flight B draw before withdrawing in the round of 16 against fifth-seeded Andre Maier of Alabama Birmingham. He came back later in the tournament to play a consolation match where Marek Dvorak of Colorado defeated him, 6-2, 6-4 to end his singles play for the weekend.
Mullane lost in the first round of Flight C play in a match against Notre Dame's Jimmy Bass, 6-4, 7-5. He redeemed himself in the consolation bracket by beating Josh Irey of Mississippi State, 7-5, 6-2.
The UA doubles squad of Labrosse and Mullane also found success by advancing to the semifinals of Flight B action. They played Maurico Engler and Richard Turner of Birmingham Southern yesterday, but results were unavailable at press time.
The Wildcats defeated Florent Girod and Josh Irey of Mississippi State 8-2 in the quarterfinals after advancing past the first round when the duo of Troy's Arthur Miller and Mississippi State's Arnaud Roussel pulled out because of injury.
The injury bug also bit Cerenko and his partner, Marko Miklo of Virginia, who held the third seed in the Flight B bracket. They beat Anton Mavrin and Kristen Mitrovski of Alabama-Birmingham, 8-6, in the first round before being forced to withdraw in the quarterfinals prior to battling Reid Bourgeois and Chris Rea of Mississippi State.
Arizona assistant coach Tad Berkowitz made his homecoming to Alabama this weekend after serving in the same capacity for the Crimson Tide.
Next weekend junior Roger Matalonga and senior Colin O'Grady will compete in the prestigious 16-team doubles tournament at the 2004 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. Matalonga will also make an appearance in the 32-player singles field.