TENNIS
Top seed advances in Bolo Bash
Top seed Christian Lindell of Sweden overcame a first-set loss to Germany’s Jan Choinski and won 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16 on Thursday at the Baptist Health Bolo Bash tennis tournament at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock.
Lindell, who is 239th in this week’s ATP rankings, will play American Eric Quigley today in a quarterfinal match. Quigley defeated Mexico’s Tigre Hnak 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.
Other round of 16 winners Thursday were Americans Tennys Sandgren, Stefan Kozlov, Evan King, Christian Harrison, Dennis Nevolo and Canadian Philip Bester.
Singles play begins at 10 a.m. today, while doubles action starts at 1 p.m.
— Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
USTA
Baptist Tennis Bolo Bash
At Rebsamen Tennis Center, Little Rock
SINGLES
Round of 16
Christian Lindell def. Jan Choinski 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-5
Eric Quigley def. Tigre Hank 6-4, 6-3
Philip Bester def. Hans Hach Verdugo 6-1, 6-1
Dennis Nevolo def. Nicolaas Scholtz 6-4, 6-2
Evan King def. Roberto Quiroz 6-2, 6-4
Stefan Kozlov def. Sebastian Fanselow 6-2, 6-2
Christian Harrison def. Nick Chappell 7-5, 6-2
Tennys Sandgren def. Jonas Luetjen 7-6 (4), 1-6, 7-6 (4)
DOUBLES
Quarterfinals
Nick Chappell/Dane Webb def. Hans Hach Verdugo/ Evan King 6-4, 6-4
Ryan Lipman/Tennys Sandgren def. Alejandro Gomez/ Roberto Quiroz 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-5
Jan Choinski/Denis Shapovalov def. Jonas Luetjen/ Nicolaas Scholtz 6-4, 6-4
Daniel Garza/Tigre Hank def. Nicolas Meister/Eric Quigley, walkover
GYMNASTICS
Arkansas’ Wellick to compete at NCAAs
Arkansas gymnast Amanda Wellick will compete in Session II of the NCAA championships tonight at 7 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth.
Wellick, a junior from Wheaton, Ill., qualified for the NCAAs as an individual for the second time in three seasons. She posted a 39.35 in the all-around to finish fifth at the NCAA Iowa City Regional two weeks ago. Wellick will rotate with Utah, starting with the vault and finishing on the floor exercise as she would at a home meet.
Five SEC teams are among the 12 at the NCAA championships. The teams in the 1 p.m. Session I semifinal are No. 2 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Auburn, No. 9 Georgia, No. 16 Minnesota and No. 18 Stanford. Teams in Session II are No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Utah, No. 8 UCLA, No. 10 California and No. 12 Nebraska.
— Tom Murphy
BASKETBALL
UAPB women add four
Three high school players and one junior college transfer originally from Arkansas have signed with the Arkansas-Pine Bluff women’s basketball team, the school announced Thursday.
Tiffany Murdock, a guard from Malvern who spent last season at Paris (Texas) Junior College; forward Brittany Wallace; guard Aiya El Hassan and guard Mercy Blanco have each joined the Golden Lions.
Wallace, from Bossier City, La., averaged 14.7 points and 13.8 rebounds last season. El Hassan, from Tulsa, averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds. Blanco, from Dallas, averaged 24 points per game. UAPB finished 9-21 overall and 6-12 in Coach Nate Kilbert’s fourth season.
VOLLEYBALL
UCA adds 10 players
Central Arkansas volleyball Coach Jeni Jones announced the addition of 10 players to the Bears’ program Thursday.
Two in-state players signed with UCA — Conway’s Mackenzie Dear and Rogers’ Elleson Dunagin. Eight other players inked with the Bears, including Elizabeth Armstrong of League City, Texas, Alanna Bramwell of Swansea, Ill., Amanda Beaton of Wildwood, Mo., Kelly Douglas of St. Louis, Abbie Harry of Frederick, Md., Rayna Jefferis of Carthage, Mo., Sydney Wright of Glen Carbon, Ill., and Loren Washington of Pflugerville, Texas.
Washington and Dear will also play for UCA’s beach volleyball team, which begins play in the spring of 2017.
BOWLING
ASU begins play at NCAA championship
The Arkansas State women’s bowling team went 3-2 Thursday in its first five matches of the seeding round of the NCAA Women’s Bowling National Championship in New Brunswick, N.J.
ASU is tied for second with Nebraska and Vanderbilt. Sam Houston State leads the field with a 4-1 record. McKendree, Central Missouri and North Carolina A&T are 2-3 while Stephen F. Austin is 1-4.
The Red Wolves lost their first match Thursday to Central Missouri 1,047-971, but they bounced back with a 1,009-936 victory over Vanderbilt. Later Thursday, ASU topped North Carolina A&T 1,160-922, lost to Sam Houston State 1,104-1,034 and defeated McKendree 1,161-1,066.
ASU’s Jordan Richard is second overall in the individual standings after five matches with a total pinfall of 1,134 (226.8 per game average), and Stephanie Mims is fourth (1,121 total pinfall, 224.2 average).
ASU plays Stephen F. Austin in its first match today before finishing the seeding round with Nebraska.