Men's Tennis | 9/27/2021 5:45:00 PM

MOUNT BERRY, Ga.  Competing in the men's Division III 2021 Fall ITA South Regional on September 24-26 at Berry (Ga.) College, Methodist sophomore Jordan Theron played his way into the main-draw championship match of the singles bracket, earning a bid to advance to the 2021 ITA Cup on October 14-17.

Qualifiers for the ITA Cup, formerly known as the Small College Nationals, are comprised of the nine singles and doubles fall regional champions, as well as the championship finalists in the Central, Midwest, Northeast, New England, South, Southeast and West regionals.

Theron advanced out of the first round of the South regional singles bracket with a win over Brady St. Martin of Millsaps (Miss.) College, then advanced into the Round of 16 with a straight-set victory over North Carolina Wesleyan's Andrea Fanzaga.

Next up was N.C. Wesleyan's Diego Segovia, but he, too, fell in straight sets to Theron, 6-3 and 7-5.

The quarterfinals brought Theron and Augusto Roca (NCW) together, with Roca winning the opening set, 6-2. Theron answered with a 6-2 second-set win to square the match, then closed out the victory with a dominating 6-0 third set to move to the semifinal round.

Nolan Shah of Emory (Ga.) University had not lost a set in reaching the semifinals, but Theron got the better of Shah with a 6-2, 6-4 victory that propelled the Monarch into the championship match.

Awaiting Theron in that championship bout was NCW's Jhonny Acosta, who had not surrendered more than three games to an opponent during his march to the championship match.

Acosta took the first set, 6-2, but Theron battled the senior in the second set, playing into a set tie-break. All square at 6-6 it was Acosta, though, who was able to outlast Theron, winning the decisive tiebreaker by a 7-4 count.

Nonetheless, Theron and Acosta will both be traveling back to Berry College for the ITA Cup in October.

Also competing in the singles main draw for Methodist were Henry Murray and E.J. Stolmeijer. Both were defeated in the opening round, but Murray bounced back with a win in the consolation bracket before exiting in the consol's second round.

Winning a match in the B2 singles draw was Methodist's Luke Laney, who defeated Berry's Kyle Lutian, 6-2, 6-2, before dropping out in the second round.

Theron and Quinn McNamara teamed up for an opening round win in the doubles main draw, downing a tandem from the University of the South-Sewanee, but a duo from Emory ended their run in the second round.

In the D2 doubles bracket, Stolmeijer and AJ Rogers advanced out of the opening round, then earned a second-round win (8-3) over a pair from Berry. The Methodist tandem's tournament ended, though, the bracket's semifinal round.