September 24, 2011

Kirstein advances to round of 32 at Southern Intercollegiates

Justin Kirstein claimed a tough, straight set win Friday in his opening round match at the Southern Intercollegiates. Alex Chen and Vasily Eremeev each bowed out of singles play, while Eremeev and Kirstein will open doubles play Saturday.

ATHENS, Ga. -- Senior Justin Kirstein was on top of his game Friday, toughing it out for a straight-set victory in his opening match at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships being hosted by the University of Georgia. Kirstein defeated Hans Adrian Riseng of Stetson, 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the round of 32 in the Division II Singles Flight in one of the oldest college tennis tournaments in the nation.

Kirstein advances to face Bryan Swartz of Tennessee, with the contest scheduled for 9:15 a.m. CT Saturday.

Kirstein was the lone Golden Eagle to advance in Friday's play, while teammates Alex Chen and Vasily Eremeev both played against Georgia players on their homecourts, and both bowed out with first-round losses.

In the Division I Singles Flight, Chen drew the task of facing the third-seeded player, Sadio Doumbia of Georgia. Doumbia used a powerful service game to help him claim a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

In the Division II Singles Flight, Eremeev faced homestanding Campbell Johnson of Georgia and claimed a couple of points before bowing out in staight sets, 6-1, 6-1.

It will be a busy morning for Kirstein. He and Eremeev were scheduled to pair up to play Andrew Dromsky and Oliver Webb from Georgia Southern Saturday at 7 a.m. in the Division II doubles flight, with his singles match to follow.