BRONX, NY – The Iona University men's tennis team continued its fall slate this past weekend at the Fordham Fall Invitational. The Gaels competed in singles and doubles action, highlighted by a semifinal appearance from junior
Yusen Sato and freshman
Mark Taviloglu in the doubles main draw.
Saturday's matches were contested at the Hawthorn/Rooney Tennis Courts before competition shifted to Iona's Meyer Athletic Center on Sunday due to inclement weather.
SINGLES SUMMARY
Sato opened competition in the White Flight with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Fordham's Christian Ramos in the round of 16. He advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Wagner's Joshua Zhao, 6-1, 6-4.
Freshman
James Clunie also picked up a singles victory for the Maroon & Gold in the White Flight consolation bracket, the first win of his collegiate career. After dropping the opening set to Fordham's Cristian Ramos, 6-7 (1-7), Clunie responded with a 6-2 second-set win before taking the deciding 10-point tiebreaker, 10-2. Clunie previously fell to Fordham's Diego Cueto, 6-2, 6-1, in the main draw.
Taviloglu rounded out Iona's White Flight competitors, falling to Drexel's Tiago Lima, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0, in the opening round.
In the Maroon Flight, freshman
George Lyons and junior
Roko Kacer represented the Gaels in singles competition. Lyons fell to Fordham's Victor Kimpel, 6-2, 6-1, and Dhananjay Athreya, 6-2, 6-3. Kacer dropped matches to Wagner's Leon Eddie Schmidt, 6-0, 6-0, and Fordham's Filip Horak, 6-3, 6-3.
DOUBLES SUMMARY
Sato and Taviloglu highlighted doubles competition for the Gaels, earning a 6-3 quarterfinal victory over LIU's Leo Lazarides and Jack Brimm to advance to the main draw semifinals. The Iona tandem's run concluded with a 6-1 setback to Fordham's Zachary Pelleouchoud and Diego Cueto. Clunie and Lyons also competed in doubles action, falling to Fordham's Dhananjay Athreya and Filip Horak, 6-0, in the opening round.
UP NEXT
The Gaels return to action on Thursday, October 15 for the ITA Northeast Regional Championship held at University of Pennsylvania.
