Colorado University Athletics
MEN'S TENNIS QUALIFIES FOR ITA REGIONAL TEAM PLAYOFF
LAS VEGAS, Nev. ? With a strong showing at the 2003 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Mountain Region Championships, the Colorado men’s tennis team has qualified for the ITA Regional Team Playoff, Nov. 14-15 (site to be determined).
“We accomplished one of our goals,” said CU head coach Sam Winterbotham. “We qualified as one of the top four teams in the regional. As young as we are, it was good to meet one of our goals. Now we’ll be motivated to knock off these teams in the dual format.”
The Buffaloes fall team is comprised of four freshmen, three sophomores and one junior.
One of those newcomers is Marcos Digliodo of Cordoba, Argentina. Digliodo seeded No. 24 in the tournament, lost his opening round match in the Round of 128, stormed back to win five consecutive matches en route to the fourth round of the consolation bracket. One of the those victories came in his fourth match that earned Digliodo a fourth round spot defeating Erik Nyman of BYU, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“Marcos beat the No.1 ranked player from BYU and No. 3 seed in this tournament. He showed what he has in winning five straight,” Winterbotham said.
Colorado also faired well with stellar play from its rookie group including freshmen Peter Bjork of Huddinge, Sweden. Bjork won his first three matches reaching the Round of 16 before falling to the top-seeded player in the bracket. The Buffs third freshman Marek Dvorak of Prague, Czech Republic had similar success also winning three consecutive matches reaching the Round of 16.
In doubles, Digliodo and Chad Tsuda, seeded eighth, advanced to the semifinals with three straight wins, along with Dvorak and Marko Bundalo winning two matches, also reaching the Round of 16.