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Lockin Wins Southern Intercollegiate Championship 9/22/2003
Lockin Wins Southern Intercollegiate Championship Athens, Ga. — Junior Matt Lockin of the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team defeated top-seeded Bo Hodge of Georgia in the main draw final at the 36th-annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships, played at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga. Lockin looked sharp in a straight-set victory on the home court of the No. 2 player in the nation, dispatching of Hodge, 6-4, 7-68. Lockin, ranked No. 35 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, played five matches in four days against some of the top competition in the southeast. He advanced in straight sets through D.J. Spice (7-64, 7-65) of Wake Forest, Johnathan Stokke (6-4, 6-2) of Duke and No. 79 John Chesworth (6-4, 6-4) of Furman to reach Sunday afternoon’s semifinal. In his second match of the day, Lockin wore down No. 67 Matias Ormaza (2-6, 6-3, 6-2) of host Georgia to advance to Monday morning’s final. A native of Lilburn, Ga., Lockin did not feel out of place against a pair of homestanding Bulldogs. The junior was a mere hour from home, but also was returning to the site of the 2003 NCAA Championships, where he and the Commodores had advanced to the Championship match only four months ago. “Bo Hodge is a great player — I wanted to come out and give him a good match today,” Lockin said. “I was returning well today. I played some big servers early in the draw, and I think that helped prepare me for the finals.” “I am obviously very pleased with the way Matt played,” Vanderbilt Coach Ken Flach said. “He played No. 3 for us last year, and today he beat one of the top five players in the country. That says a lot for our team. I am very pleased with where we’re at early in the season. I saw a lot of encouraging things this weekend.” In all, six Commodores competed at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships, and each was able to claim successes. Junior Scott Brown and senior Zach Dailey both advanced to the main draw’s round of 16. Brown defeated ETSU’s Alejandro Salazar (6-2, 6-0), while Dailey earned wins over Furman’s Allen Simmons (6-1, 6-0) and Armstrong Atlantic’s Achim Roth (7-5, 7-61). In the third singles’ flight, senior Jens Pillgram-Larsen defeated Andres Rojas (6-3, 6-3) of Jacksonville. Sophomore Greg Sossaman lost a tough three-set opening round match, but he bounced back to advance to the semifinals of the flight two consolation draw with wins over South Carolina’s Ben Atkinson (7-5, 6-4) and seventh-seed Max Fomine (7-5, 6-1) of Mississippi State. In doubles action, all three teams won their first round matches. Lockin teamed up with senior Lewis Smith in the top flight, defeating the Georgia Southern duo of Heever and Patry (8-2). Brown and Dailey also advanced past their first match by taking out Donaldson and Alaily (8-2) of Ole Miss. In flight two, Sossaman and Pillgram-Larsen defeated Baglan and Green (8-4) from Georgia Southern. The 2003 Southern Intercollegiate Championships featured more than 140 players representing 25 teams in the southeast. |
