Golden Eagle tennis produces stellar performance at the Porters Neck Invitational
WILMINGTON, N.C. – A second successful showing of the fall was the story for the Tennessee Tech tennis team in the Porters Neck Invitational hosted by UNCW.
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Athletics Media Relations
WILMINGTON, N.C. – A second successful showing of the fall was the story for the Tennessee Tech tennis team in the Porters Neck Invitational hosted by UNCW.
Seven singles victories, six doubles triumphs, two appearances in the finals of a singles flight, and a doubles title in the top flight helped highlight the weekend for the purple and gold.
The Tech tandem of Alex Alvarez and Davids Spaks soared to the tune of a championship in the top flight with the Golden Eagle pair putting together a perfect 3-0 performance, capturing all three battles against the host UNCW. The duo first claimed a 7-6 victory over Luke Trimp and Sam Nicholson before topping Martin Mazev and Luksa Steffens, 6-3, and Alex De and Jordi Domenich Castillo, 6-2, to take the title.
Oliver Dao and Murilo Burckhardt nearly followed suit with a 2-1 showing that included a 6-3 win over Aditya Vyas and Augie Ballantine of Wake Forest. The pair then lost 7-6 to UNCW's Brady Hussey and Oscar Baumgartner, but bounced back with a 7-6 nod over UNCW's Andrew Hayduke and Harry Abel to conclude their tourney run.
Elyad Oshnavie and Ricard Garavi Yepez rounded out Tech's doubles play with a 1-2 mark that included a 6-3 victory over Andrew Macmillan and Alvin Granados before back-to-back losses to with a 6-4 defeat to William & Mary's Theo Nilsson and Kevin Jorquera and a 6-4 loss to Matthew and Mason Fekete.
"I thought we had a great tournament overall against some really tough competition, which included schools who were nationally ranked or went to the NCAA Tournament last year," TTU head coach Mark Klysner claimed. "Doubles was definitely where we excelled the most this weekend, having won the top doubles flight. Alex and Davids beat three UNCW teams including the top seeds en route to the championship. Oliver and Murilo also had match points in their only loss otherwise they would have won their flight in doubles as well."
As far as singles play is concerned, Dao and Garavi Yepez each made the final of their singles flight and would have faced off with one another in the championship. Dao dropped his first battle with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Ian Pederson Lozano of North Carolina A&T, but picked up consecutive wins behind a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Aditya Vyas of Wake Forest and a 6-2, 3-6, 10-3 victory against Elon's Nicholas Fisk.
Garavi Yepez had a similar situation, first falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to UNCW's Brady Hussey before battling back with a 6-7, 6-4, 10-4 triumph against UNCW's Harry Abel and a 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 win over UNCW's Martin Mazev.
Murilo Burckhardt also picked up a pair of solo nods with a 7-6, 6-4 victory against Tulsa's Adam Boskovic and a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Hampton's Rafael Padilha. The Golden Eagle junior out of Telemaco Borba, Brazil was tripped up twice as well with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to UNCW's Sam Nicholson and a 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 defeat to NC A&T's Jindrich Brill.
Elyad Oshnavie went 1-2 in singles play with a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Trishiv Premanand, a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Matthew Kekete and a 6-2, 7-6 defeat to Benedict Badza.
Alex Alvarez was limited to just one singles matchup due to an injury. The Tech junior out of Barcelona, Spain dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision to Ariel Zauber out of Wake Forest.
"We had some positive results in singles, and going 7-7 for the tournament was a good result for us, especially with having both Olver and Ricard making the final of their flight," Klysner said. "I think had Alex not come up with an injury, he could have made it far in his flight as well. Overall, it was a great event for us and I saw much improvement from the week before. We will now focus on this coming weekend up in Cincinnati where the guys will get to play at the facility which holds the yearly ATP event."
The Golden Eagles will now set their sights on the James O'Connell Memorial Tournament Sept. 26-28. The event in Mason, Ohio is hosted by Dayton.
