Sept. 21, 2007

ATHENS, Ga. - The University of Memphis men's tennis team opened the 2007 Southern Intercollegiate Championships and sophomore Charlie Ramsay (Chattanooga, Tenn./McCallie) advanced to the Round of 32.

Memphis picked up its one singles win on the day when sophomore Charlie Ramsay defeated Wofford's Paul Barholomy, 6-4, 6-3. With the win, Ramsay advances to a Saturday match against No. 7 seed Billy Mulligan of Florida, who downed Charleston Southern's Steven Dean, 6-3, 6-4.

Three other Tigers had tough matches, but fell in to the consolation side of their brackets. Freshman Michael Gaerthoeffner faced University of South Carolina - Upstate's Renzo Airaldi in the Round of 64 after receiving a first round bye, and fell 6-2, 6-4 in Division II singles.

In Division I singles, senior Amrit Narasimhan won his opening set, 7-5, against Wake Forest's Andrew Brassenaux, but then fell 6-3, 6-4 in the next two sets to fall in to the consolation side of the singles draw.

Sophomore Spencer Heflin also had a tough match, playing a match reminiscent of Memphis' C-USA days when Louisville was in the league. Heflin won the opening set against the Cardinals' Pablo Camacho, 6-3, in Division III singles, but then dropped a pair of heart-breaking 7-5 sets in the loss.

The Tigers will regroup and play doubles beginning at 8 a.m., Saturday. Ramsay's next singles match will be played between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and the consolation singles matches will begin around 2 p.m.

Division I Singles
Round of 64 - Andrew Brassenaux (Wake Forest) def. Amrit Narasimhan (Memphis), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

Division II Singles
Round of 64 - Charlie Ramsay (Memphis) def. Paul Barholomy (Wofford), 6-4, 6-3
Round of 64 - Renzo Airaldi (USC Upstate) def. Michael Gaerthoeffner (Memphis), 6-2, 6-4

Division III Singles
Round of 32 - Pablo Camacho (Louisville) def. Spencer Heflin (Memphis), 3-6, 7-5, 7-5