UA duo nets Men’s Open title at FAC city championships

BY HEATH ALLEN Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/66686/

A pair of Arkansas Razorbacks plowed through the field in the Men’s Open Division at the annual Fayetteville City Doubles and Mixed Doubles Tennis Championships held at Fayetteville Athletic Club.

Colin Mascall and Tyler Tarnasky downed Zach Schiff and Eddie Pacheco in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, to take the Men’s Open title on Sunday.

Mascall and Tarnasky broke serve up 5-4 to escape a tiebreaker in the second set and claim victory.

“ We played pretty solid and just tried to serve the ball in play and push it down the court, ” Mascall said. “ We didn’t do anything fancy, just playing it safe and being consistent. ”

Tarnasky said the break point was key in the second set to preserve the victory after a hard-fought ending to a dominating first-set win.

“ They came back and battled in that second set, ” Mascall said. “ If we lose the last game, who knows what might have happened ? That last point was crucial. ”

Mascall just finished his eligibility in the spring. Tarnasky is a redshirt freshman. While one is just beginning his career and the other is now a former Hog, Mascall said the duo quickly established chemistry as a doubles tandem.

“ We played some doubles together on and off throughout the season, ” Mascall said. “ I think we had chemistry out there and that definitely paid off. We were solid and made shots. The keys were getting in our first serves and making the returns to get us started. We got off to quick start, which was key because we had a difficult time breaking serve in that second set. If we don’t hold that last game, it might have turned out differently. ”

The Ladies’ 3. 0 Division was among Sunday’s most snug outcomes.

The duo of Allyn Elleman and Sommer Huff mustered a hotly contested three-set triumph over Ann Fry and Maya Maurer 6-4, 5-7, 11-9 to win the title.

Elleman said coming back strong in the third set following a disheartening second set loss helped fuel the victory.

“ We knew the match had been back and forth the whole time so we weren’t deflated after that second set, ” Elleman said. “ We knew we had a clean slate heading in to the third. We just wanted to be patient with our ground strokes and keep them deep. We stayed focused at the net and waited for the lob so Sommer could hit it away.

“ It was a tough match against a very good doubles team and it could have gone either way. We’re just excited to come away with the win. ”