Oct. 1, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Sophomore Benedikt Fischer and junior Amrit Narasimhan have found themselves one round from advancing out of the ITA All-American Pre-Qualifying Draw following a first round bye and a victory in singles on Saturday.

Fischer advanced to the second round when his initial first round opponent was dropped out of the draw. The German native then downed Robin Fernandes of UT-San Antonio, after dropping the first set, 7-6(8), but then bounced back with a pair of set victories, 6-3, 6-1. He will play Marquette's Trenton Hagan at 11 a.m., Sunday.

Narasimhan also received a first round bye, then split the first two sets, 6-3, 5-7 to force a deciding third set. Narasimhan prevailed, 6-4, to advance to a Sunday match against Joe Epkey, from Ball State, one of the tournament seeds. That match will be played Sunday at noon.

The winner in both matches will advance to the ITA Qualifying Tournament Draw. Memphis last had an entry advance from the pre-qualifiers to the qualifying draw in 2003 when now-assistant coach Lee Taylor Walker advanced from the pre-qualifier in the qualifying draw.