MOBILE, Ala. – The Embry-Riddle tennis teams got off to a great start at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships on Thursday as the Eagles went a combined 4-0 on the first day of competition.
 
Patrick Besch was the first Eagle to hit the court at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) when he squared off against Bruno Kliskinic of Concordia – Irvine. Besch, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, overcame a first-set defeat to rally for a three-set victory, 6-7 (8), 6-1, 7-5.

Besch came back to play his first doubles match of the day with partner Simon Felix at 1 p.m. Besch and Felix, the top seeds in the tournament, faced off against Graceland's duo of Juan Jose Mateus and Raul Mendez. Besch and Felix came away with an easy straight-sets win, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals at 5 p.m.

At 5 p.m., Besch and Felix came back to face Olivet Nazarene's Diego Gonsalvez and Julian Kurz, a tandem that had defeated the fourth-seeded team in straight sets just a few hours earlier. Besch and Felix didn't allow the ONU team to pull off a second straight upset, winning the match with relative ease, 6-2, 6-3, earning a spot in Friday's national championship match.

ERAU's women's doubles team of Hui-l Huang and Kristina Marova took the court at 3 p.m. to take on the duo of Rocio Cardo and Laura Vergara from Lindsey Wilson. Huang and Marova, who qualified for the tournament as the first alternate and were invited to replace the top-seeded team from Auburn – Montgomery, picked up a win in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
 
Besch will play his singles semifinal match tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) against third-seeded Fernando Bogajo of Lindsey Wilson. Huang and Marova are scheduled to play Seraphine Buchmann and Aurelie Hascoet of Olivet Nazarene at 1 p.m. in a semifinal match. Depending on the outcome of that match, Huang/Marova will either play for the championship at 5 p.m. or in the third-place match at 4 p.m. Besch and Felix will be taking on Nicolas Pinones-Haltenhoff and Tim Hewitt, the third seed from Auburn – Montgomery, in the doubles title match at 5 p.m.