Rogers’ win helps FMU men advance

By Morning News Staff Reports

Published: May 14, 2008

HOUSTON — Freshman Karl Rogers won the final four games of his three-set match to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and give 20th-ranked Francis Marion a 5-4 upset of seventh-ranked Cameron on Wednesday afternoon in the round of 16 at the NCAA Division II men’s tennis national finals.
Francis Marion ups its record to 19-5 and moves on to today’s national quarterfinals against Barry at 2 p.m. at Houston’s Memorial Park. This will be FMU’s first appearance in the Elite Eight.
With each squad having won four matches, it came down to Rogers against Cameron’s Cristian Easton at No. 5 singles. The Killiney, Ireland, native won the first set fairly easily and then led 4-3 in set two before Easton captured three straight games to win 6-4. With Easton serving first in set three, Rogers trailed 3-2. He then won his serve and broke Easton’s serve to go ahead.
Francis Marion led 2-1 after doubles play, including a historic win at the No. 1 position. Freshmen Oshada Wijemanne and Dilshod Sharifi beat the Cameron duo of Jordi Mullor and Daniel Pazos, who are ranked No. 1 in Division II, by the score of 8-3.
Patriot seniors Franklyn Emmanuel and Dananjaya Mayedunne won a marathon 9-7 decision at No. 2 doubles.
The Aggies (21-4) then took a 3-2 advantage with a pair of straight set wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles. Sharifi evened the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles, but Cameron won at No. 2 singles to go up 4-3. Emmanuel, ranked 24th nationally, again pulled Francis Marion even at 4-4 with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles over Mullor, who is ranked 36th.