Luck changes for Hogs in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Through the first day of play at the UNLV Fall Classic, the Razorbacks trio of Connor Smith, Nick Spinazze, and Taylor King showed the difference a year can make, winning two of three first round singles matches, Spinazze coming back against UNLV’s Bryan Miller to win, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, and teammate King eliminating Taylor Leiby of Fresno State,6-3, 2-6, 7-5to advance and join Spinazze in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.

“Taylor King and Nick Spinazze showed they can play good solid collegiate tennis; they pulled out good three-set wins and we hope they can continue to win throughout the tournament,” head coach Robert Cox said.

The one singles loss on the day for Arkansas came from senior Connor Smith who dropped his three set battle with Maxime Adam of Fresno Pacific, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

“All three of our first round matches were long, tough three set matches and to win two out of three in a strong tournament like this one shows a good effort by all the Hogs,” Cox said.

The Razorbacks struggles in doubles continued Friday as Spinazze and Smith lost 8-4 to Wesley Burrows and Attila Toth of UNLV.

Late Friday, Spinazze was scheduled to face Francois VanDerMerwe from Arizona in the quarterfinals while King took on Toth. Smith was also scheduled to play another match on Friday before playing in the consolation singles tournament beginning Saturday morning. Play continues in the singles main draw Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and consolation doubles play starts at 2 p.m. For complete men’s tennis coverage, log on to www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com.