Oct. 25, 2001

CHAPEL HILL, NC - Three Wake Forest men's tennis players won two singles matches to qualify for the main draw of the ITA Region II Championships Thursday and a Demon Deacon doubles team qualified for the main draw as well. Derrick Spice, Trent Brendon and Andrew Simpson each picked up two more singles wins to qualify for the main draw, where they will meet up with teammates Mike Murray and David Loewenthal.

In doubles action, Loewenthal and Brendon won three straight matches to qualify for the main draw, where they will meet up with the Wake Forest duo, Murray and Spice. Loewenthal and Brendon topped Joe Brooks and Jeff Kader from William & Mary 8-1 in the first round, Gustav Bucht and Romain Jurd from Florida State 9-7 in the second round and Ben Aiken and Max Hilkey from North Carolina 8-1 in the qualifying round. They will face Tushar Garg and Andreas Dulscar from American in the first round of the main draw.

Spice, a freshman from North Olmsted, OH, made quick work of High Point's Robert Lindhe in the second round of singles play, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. He then took out Roberto Fernandez of East Tennessee State in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 in the qualifying round. Spice will face 13th seeded Tony Mule from UNC-Greensboro in the first round of the main draw Friday morning.

Brendon, a junior from Victorville, CA, fought off Thomas Ibler from Hampton 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in the second round of singles. He then cruised past Garg Tushar of American 6-4, 6-0 in the qualifying round. Brendon will take on Appalachian State's Erez Cohen in the first round of the main draw Friday morning.

Simpson, a sophomore from Raleigh, NC, made quick work of Clemson's Nathan Thompson in the second round of singles play, winning 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets. He then outlasted Darin Goldstein from Duke 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the qualifying round. Simpson is set to play Florida State's Romain Jurd in the first round of the main draw Friday morning.

Justin Kaufmann picked up a 6-4, 7-5 win over Sander Koning from Clemson in the second round of the qualifying singles draw, but fell 7-5, 6-4 in the qualifying round to Georgia Tech's Scott Schnugg. Kaufmann and Bere lost 8-5 to Hampton's Glauco Nascimento and Valter Paiva in the first round of the qualifying doubles draw and the Wake Forest tandem of Rick Phillipp and Andrew Simpson took a first round qualifying doubles exit after dropping 8-6 to Rodrigo Laub and Xaiver Luscan of Florida State.

Complete results from the ITA Region II Championships are available at TennisInformation.com.