Update from Aiken Day 1

Greetings from the South Aiken High Invitational!

We are through our first round match in Aiken. So far, the best news for me is that we have free internet in our rooms at the Sleep Inn in Aiken so I can update you all on today's action. I will update tomorrow's matches when we return from Rock Hill as we are checking out early tomorrow morning and I won't have access until I return home.

We had a strong showing in round 1, but came up just shy of beating Aiken High 3-4. Our first win came courtesy of Brian Fitzpatrick & Sudeep Das as they finished off their opponent at 2 Doubles in blitzing speed 6-0, 6-0. Our second win was via Eric Sabin at 5 Singles in a 3 set thriller 4-6, 6-0, 10-7 tiebreaker. Jeff Zimmerman & Seth Russell provided our third victory at 1 Doubles via an 8-game proset score of 8-2 after Aiken had clinched the match.

Our four defeats were all hard fought matches that started with Drayton Wade falling 2-6, 0-6 at 3 Singles. Our 4th singles line was almost a miraculous comeback with Zach Beaver fighting back from a 0-6 first set to win the 2nd set 6-3 and then fall in a heartbreaker tiebreaker 8-10. Jeff Zimmerman had the marathon match of the day winning the first set 7-5, before dropping the second set 6-2 and tiebreaker 6-10.

We fall into the backdraw & will face Blythewood HS who was a 2-4 loser against South Aiken High. Our match will be at 9 AM and we will play our final match at 1 PM. I personally will be sticking around to watch the final matches at 3PM and will bring back the boys that choose to stick around with me, putting me back in Rock Hill around 7:30 or 8 PM. Those that leave after our final match should be arriving back at NHS around 5:30 or 6 PM.

We are looking forward to our banquet tonight at Woodside Plantation Country Club and our BBQ dinner that our gracious hosts are providing. After dinner, we'll have a quick team meeting back at the hotel and a surprise team activity. We should be hitting the pillows around 11 PM tonight.

Another reminder for those team members who are wishing us luck from Rock Hill and may be looking for a tennis weekend activity, there are several options. The Winthrop Men's & Women's tennis teams will be hosting home matches on Saturday at 11 AM against Troy & Sunday at 1PM against USC Upstate. Also, there is a USTA sponsored tournament going on all weekend at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. Both events should offer great tennis viewing for those interested (and you can cheer onPam Zimmerman in her tournament matches!)

Go Trojans!