SUMTER, SC – Sophomore Jules Subra reached the final match in the Flight B singles title, as Francis Marion University competed at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regional Championships over the weekend (Oct. 16-18) at the Palmetto Tennis Center.
 
Francis Marion, on the men's side, had five individuals participate in singles and two doubles pairings at the tournament that featured the top players in the Southeast Region. On the women's side, the Patriots entered six individuals in singles competition and three doubles teams.
 
FMU Men's Tennis will compete Thursday, Oct. 22, in an exhibition match at 3:30 p.m. against USC Sumter on the Kassab Courts. The next official match is scheduled for Feb. 9, when the men's and women's squads begin the spring season versus Newberry College at home.
 
A native of Toulouse, France, Subra was the runner-up in the ITA Southeast Regional Flight B singles championship after posting a 4-1 record over the weekend. Subra opened the competition with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Luke Dent of Lander on Friday afternoon. Later that day, Subra garnered a 6-3, 6-2 upset victory versus No. 4-seeded Zeno Godi of Lenoir-Rhyne before he posted another 6-3, 6-2 win on Saturday in the quarterfinals against fellow teammate Alexander Mirkov.
 
On Sunday, he won his semifinal match with a 7-6, 6-7, 12-10 victory versus Tusculum's No. 8-seeded Victor Palomar-Marquina. Subra fell in the championship match with a 3-6, 2-6 loss to No. 1 seed Anton Krondell of North Georgia to earn the Flight B singles runner-up honors.
 
Additionally, in men's singles action, Mirkov reached the quarterfinals while competing in Flight B. He produced a 5-7, 7-6, 10-2 win against Noah Paterson of Flagler, and a 3-6, 7-6, 10-7 victory over Joshua Furneaux of Carson-Newman, before falling in a battle between fellow Patriot Subra.
 
In Flight B of men's open doubles, juniors Diego Vega Espinosa and Juan Morresi defeated Edoardo Pilia and Marko Pozonec of Coker, 8-5, and posted an 8-4 win over James Henery and Kai Poelchau of Tusculum. The duo fell in the semifinal match 8-9 to Flagler's No. 4-seeded Noah Paterson and Oliver Hradilek.
 
In women's singles, Francis Marion senior Magdalena Skachova reached the quarterfinals of Flight B of the ITA championships as the No. 5 seed with an impressive 3-1 record over the weekend. She defeated Ginevra Villa of Tusculum 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets. In the round of 16, Skachova took down Yana Prihach of Middle Georgia 6-4, 6-3. She was uncontested until facing No. 2 Teresa Poppe of North Georgia, where Skachova lost 4-6, 4-6 on Saturday evening.
 
Sophomore Liza Simak defeated Nadine Abid of Flagler College 6-4, 3-6, 11-9 in the round of 64 in Flight A. The Sweden native soon fell in the round of 32, by a final score of 4-6, 3-6 against No. 8 Sofia Lauretti of Columbus State. Alongside Simak in Flight A was freshman Louma Legorburo, who had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Charne Mulder from Mars Hill. Legorburo dropped a 6-7, 2-6 decision against No. 9 Tamanna Takoria of Middle Georgia State.
 
Junior Valery Gomez found herself in the round of 16 in Flight B and dropped a 3-6, 6-4, 3-10 decision to Lucile Gence of Middle Georgia.
 
The duo of Skachova and sophomore Janka Juhasz recorded an 8-1 victory over Nadine Abid and Sofia Balsera of Flagler in the women's Flight A doubles before falling 4-8 in the round of 16 to Columbus State's Sofia Lauretti and Maria Markosov.