SUMTER, S.C. - The Middle Georgia State men's and women's tennis teams competed last weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast regional championships at the Palmetto Tennis Center. Both teams put together strong showings in doubles and singles competition.

MGA was among the top schools in the region in terms of representation as acceptance into the tournament is based on individual player rankings. Between the men's and women's teams the Knights had 13 direct entries into the tournament.

On the men's side, Vicente Faria and Daniel Garcia opened the men's Flight B with an 8-5 win in doubles action over a pair from the University of Virginia-Wise before falling 8-3 in the following round versus a tandem from Young Harris.

In singles action, the MGA men were led by Garcia in Flight A who came away with a 6-4, 7-6 win before being defeated in the following round by the scores of 6-2,-6-1.

In Flight B singles action, it was Alexander Achour leading the way as he battled to a 7-6, 7-6 win in round one before taking down his second round opponent by the scores of 4-6, 6-4 (10-6) in round two. Achour was finally knocked off in the Round of 16 by William Gee from Tusculum by the scores of 4-6, 6-0 (10-7).

For the Knights' women's squad, it was the duo of Agustina Olivero and Ainhoa Meili Fernandez that were victorious in Flight A doubles action as they battled out an 8-6 win before falling 8-3 to a pair from Catawba College in round two.

Yana Prihach and Tammana Takoria represented the Purple and Black in Flight B doubles as they advanced 8-4 and then again with an 8-3 victory in round two. They would fall 8-4 in the Flight B doubles final against the likes of Mar Sarda Marti and Kira Braacke of Carson-Newman University.

On the singles side, it was Meili Fernandez advancing to the round of 16 as she came away with a 6-3, 6-0 win and then a 6-2, 6-0 win in round two. She would finally fall 7-6, 6-0 against Eryka Kruk of Flagler.

Berta Castello also picked up a first round win as she earned a 6-7, 6-3 (10-6) win before losing in the following round. In Flight B for the women it was Irina Furturna who came away with a first round win as she earned a 6-3, 6-2 win before being defeated in the next round.

Olivero and Prihach were both top performers in Flight B singles. Olivero advanced 6-2, 6-1 before her time through the competition ended in the quarterfinals when she lost 6-1, 6-2 to Linn Goerdes of North Georgia. Prihach advanced thanks to a 6-3, 6-2 win in the first round and then a 0-6, 6-4 (10-7) second round matchup before falling 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Both MGA tennis teams will be back in action on October 3-5 as they take part in the Mercer Gridiron Tournament. The women's team will play at the Randy Stephens Tennis Tournament while the men will compete at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center.