Razorback Duo To Play for Doubles Title

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas netters Colin Mascall and Blake Strode will play for the doubles title Sunday at the Wilson/ITA Central Region Championships in Tulsa, Okla. It will be the duo’s second final appearance in three tournaments played during the fall season.

Mascall and Strode defeated Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Dmytro Petrov of Oklahoma St., 8-3, in Saturday’s semifinal matchup. In the finals, Mascall and Strode will play Oklahoma’s Federico Chavaria and Andrei Daescu for the regional championship.

The winning pair from Sunday’s doubles final will earn a berth into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships draw played Nov. 1-4 in Columbus, Ohio.

The Sooners pair prevented an all-Arkansas final with a semifinal win over UA’s Dmitry Lebedev and Chris Nott, 9-7. Lebedev and Nott served for a spot in the finals, but weren’t able to close out the match. Despite the setback, head Robert Cox was pleased with what he saw from his doubles teams.

“Dmitry and Chris played really well this week and were definitely a pleasant surprise for us,” Cox said. “It’s great to see them step up as another strong doubles team that can serve as a compliment to Blake and Colin.”

In singles action, Strode fell to Dalibar Pavic of Drake, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

“Blake was so solid during this tournament,” Cox said. “He just ran into someone today who was hot and playing very well.”

The doubles final is scheduled to begin at approximately 12 p.m. CT at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the University of Tulsa campus. Log on to www.hogwired.com for complete results and continued coverage of Razorback tennis.