Hokie Club
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va - Virginia Tech's men's tennis team opened the 2008 fall season on a successful note Friday at the UVa Fall Invitational. The tournament features players from 17 schools, including seven nationally-ranked singles players and two doubles teams. The event is being played at the Snyder Tennis Center on the University of Virginia campus, however due to rain this morning, some matches were held indoors at Boar's Head.
The Hokies saw their greatest success in doubles taking eight of 10 matches in three flights. In A doubles, Brandon Corace (Sr., Naples, Fla.)/Nicolas Delgado de Robles (Sr., Madrid, Spain) defeated Nichifor/Schneiderman (Columbia), 9-7, in their opening match, before upsetting the fourth-seeded team of Bendheim/Paar (Nebraska), 9-7, to advance to Saturday's semifinals. In the bottom half of the A doubles draw, Sebastien Jacques (So., Magog, Quebec, Canada)/Yoann Re (Jr, Verdun, Quebec, Canada) upset No. 3 seed Borta/Wong (Columbia), 8-5, then advanced to the semifinals with a 8-4 win over Courtney/Singer (Virginia). In B doubles, Eduardo Pinto (Jr., San Jose, Costa Rica)/Luka Somen (Fr., Karlovac, Crotia) edged Robinson/Smith (James Madison), 9-8 (7), then defeated Gross/Samuelson (Georgetown), 8-5, to earn a spot in the semifinals. Also in B doubles, Patrick Daciek (Fr., Severna Park, Md.)/Zachary Pine (Fr., Vienna, Va.) lost, 8-4, to Helpingstine/Rojas (Elon), but bounced back in the consolation to pick up a 8-2 win over Boney/Freeman (Nebraska). In C doubles, Preston Lemon (Sr., Roanoke, Va.)/Jonathan Pine (Fr., Vienna, Va.) defeated Gross/Walsh (Georgetown), 8-4, before dropping a 8-5 decision to Hannah/Vayghan (George Washington).
In A-2 singles action, Delgado de Robles saved a second set match point and went on to post a tough 6-7, 7-5, 7-5, win over Francois Van Impe (Nebraska). In the bottom half of the A-2 draw, Jacques cruised to a 6-3, 6-2, win against Bagdan Borta (Columbia). Re dropped his opening A-1 singles contest, 6-2, 6-2, versus Charles Bottoni (East Tennessee State) and will play in the consolation bracket on Saturday.
Tech won two of three matches in B singles as Somen captured his collegiate singles debut with a strong 6-2, 6-1, win over Ilja Borree (William & Mary), while Corace battled his way to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, win against Alberto Rojas (Elon). Both players will see action on Saturday in the quarterfinals. Daciek dropped his collegiate opener in B singles, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, to Nicolas Vinel (Virginia Commonwealth) and will return to action Satuday in the consolation round.
The Hokies split a couple of contest in C singles as Zachary Pine had no trouble with Andrew Freeman (Nebraska) winning 6-1, 6-1, however brother Jonathan dropped a tough 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, decision to Arnav Jain (Binghampton). In D singles Lemon lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, to Brandon Videtich (Nebraska) and Pinto suffered a 6-3, 6-3, defeat against Chris Kushma (George Washington)
The tournament continues Saturday with quarterfinal and semifinal matches in all singles flights and semifinal contest in all three doubles flights.