Oct. 13, 2005

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Sophomore Bryan Bankester won his opening round match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 over Chattanooga's Ryan Fitzgerald to advance to the second round of the Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional which is being hosted at The Racquet Club of Memphis. Bankester will face No. 3 seed Eric Lim from Mississippi State Thursday afternoon to see which player advances into the main draw.

Junior Garrison Pilant's run unfortunately came to an end at the qualifying round with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 loss to Vepd Popa from Nicholls State. Popa advances to face Troy's Pascal Duttlinger, who upended top-seeded Florent Girod of Mississippi State in first round action. Girod was one of three seeds to not make it out of the first round, as Florida's Shaun Young (a No. 5 seed) and UCF's Brock Stakey (another No. 5 seed) both fell in straight sets. Young was beaten by Georgia State's Jacek Twarowski, 7-6, 6-1, while Sakey fell to Tennessee Tech's Borja Zarco, 6-4, 6-2.

The entire qualifying singles rounds will wrap up Thursday, with the eight quarterfinalists advancing into the main draw, which begins Friday. The main draw matches will be held at two sites, the Racquet Club and WellWorks.

The Tigers will have at least four entries in the main draw, depending on if Bankester advances. Junior Michael Jetter, the September Conference USA men's tennis player of the month, will open his first play at home against Tennessee Tech's Michele Panzeri at 9:15 a.m. at WellWorks (formerly known as Wimbledon/Club 650). The winner of that match faces No. 17 seed Eric Hechtman of Miami at 12:45 Friday afternoon, also at WellWorks.

Also at WellWorks, freshman Matt Brewer will play his first collegiate match in Memphis, as he faces Auburn's Nick Lane at 10 a.m., Friday morning. The winner of that match faces No. 5 seed Chris Brandi of Florida at 1:45 at WellWorks.

Senior Alex Jago will be part of a Conference USA match-up between him and Southern Miss' Dylan Mezey. That tandem will square off at 9:45 a.m., Friday, at the Racquet Club. The winner of that match faces No. 5 seed Vlad Obradovic at 1:15 p.m.

Senior James Spence rounds out the Tiger singles entries. The senior will be the first Tiger onto the court, as he faces Middle Tennessee's Kai Schledorn at 8 a.m., Friday, at the Racquet Club. The inner faces No. 17 seed Pierre Moulillon of Mississippi State in the Round of 64. Following their run to the Round of 16 at the ITA All-American, the Tiger senior duo of Spence and Jago earned a No. 9 seed for this week's tournament. The doubles team will receive a first-round bye, so they will not step on the court for doubles until Saturday, when they face the winner of the Juan Pablo Di Cesare/Jakob Klaeson (Ole Miss) vs. Chris Brandi/Shaun Young (Florida) match at 4:30 Saturday afternoon at the Racquet Club.

The complete main draw singles is available at the link below: http://tournaments.usta.com/tournaments/Draws/EventDraw.aspx?T=44010&E=1