Joe Epkey is a "lucky loser," with emphasis on the word lucky, not loser.-á
Epkey lost in the qualifying round of the All-American Pre-Qualifying Tennis Championships but will advance in the tournament due to a provision in the rules. Epkey was selected as one of three individuals to advance despite a loss because of other players withdrawing for reasons such as injury.-á
"It's great to get more matches in," Epkey said. "The more matches, the more I get better."-á
The Cardinals started out the weekend with first round wins from Epkey and Aaron Philips. Epkey defeated University of Florida's Andrew Bailey 7-6, 6-0. Philips recorded a victory over Andrew Stubbs of Wofford College 3-6, 7-6. Jarrod Epkey lost his first round match to Nejc Podkrajsek of University of Georgia 6-2, 6-4.-á
Joe Epkey and Philips continued their play in the second round with Joe Epkey beating Purdue University's Eric Hodgman 6-3, 6-1, and Philips defeating Luc Massdorp of the University of Tulsa 7-6, 6-2.-á
Both Joe Epkey and Philips lost in the qualifying round of the tournament on Sunday.
"To come to an event like this, there's a lot of quality players here," coach Bill Richards said. "It was good for Aaron and Joe. Both did very well. Joe got lucky and gets another chance."-á
With temperatures above 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity, Richards said that it was a physically tough weekend for the players.
He also said he was happy Philips battled through the pain of a bad back.-á
"Aaron was battling really bad back problems," Richards said. "He played really good the first set and hit a wall physically in the second set."-á
The tournament is not over for Philips either. He and Joe Epkey will compete in doubles competition Tuesday. Richards said the duo is not playing very well together, and it will take a lot of work for the pair to come together.
Joe Epkey also said they are not playing well together.-á
"We don't have anything to lose," Joe Epkey said. "[We'll] just go out and swing."-á
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