NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Taking advantage of good weather on the first day of the CNU Invitational, the Christopher Newport men's tennis team had a strong start in the event by going 3-1 in doubles play and 6-3 in singles action. Four CNU players finished with wins in both disciplines to kickstart the weekend festivities.
Leading the way with two wins were
Barrett Foster,
Vincent Truong,
Jamison Wallace, and
Alex Seretis. Foster and Truong played together in doubles while Wallace and Seretis paired up as well.
Ivan Ceric and
Sam Halvorsen earned a 6-2 win over Virginia Wesleyan's Josh Buckland and Olaf Van der Stam. Truong and Foster defeated Averett's Julius Bert and Alex Donnelly (6-4) while Wallace and Seretis also defeated a Cougar pairing, Roger Pamies and Sasha Rudy (6-4). CNU nearly had a doubles sweep on the first day but
Rainer Christiansen and
Nathan Russell suffered a narrow 7-6 (5) setback to Averett's Lucas Fiandra and Rafael Jodas.
In singles action, Truong swept his opening day with a straight-set win against Satwik Kollepalli (6-2, 6-1) and Foster rallied to get past Bert in a third-set tiebreaker (6-3, 4-6, 10-7). Wallace also needed a tiebreaker to earn his singles win, dropping Sasha Rudy by a final score of 3-6, 6-3, 10-6. Seretis played the most points in a win for CNU, dropping Buckland in singles in a marathon that finished 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.
Other wins in singles play came from Christiansen, shutting out Jodas in the first set before finishing out a 6-0, 7-6 (0) win. And
Matthew Onoff also won in straight sets against Van der Stam with a 6-2, 6-2 final.
Complete results of the first day of action are below. With rain in the forecast for Saturday, matches will be played indoors at the James River Country Club.
Doubles
Barrett Foster / Vincent Truong (CNU) def. Julius Bert / Alex Donnelly (AU) 6-4
Lucas Fiandra / Rafael Jodas (AU) def Rainer Christiansen / Nathan Russel (CNU)l 7-6(5)
Jamison Wallace / Alex Seretis (CNU) def Roger Pamies / Sasha Rudy (AU) 6-4
Ivan Ceric / Sam Halvorsen (CNU) def Josh Buckland / Olaf Van der Stam (VWC) 6-2
Singles
Vincent Truong (CNU) def Satwik Kollepalli (AU) 6-2,6-1
Barrett Foster (CNU) def Julius Bert (AU) 6-3,4-6,10-7
Rainer Christiansen (CNU) def Rafael Jodas (AU) 6-0,7-6(0)
Lucas Fiandra (AU) def Nathan Russell (CNU) 6-2,2-6,10-7
Jamison Wallace (CNU) def Sasha Rudy (AU) 3-6,6-3,10-6
Roger Pamies (AU) def Ivan Ceric (CNU) 4-6,7-5,10-8
Alex Donnelly (AU) def Sam Halvorsen (CNU) 6-2,6-2
Alex Seretis (CNU) def Josh Buckland (VWC) 6-4,5-7,10-8
Matthew Onoff (CNU) def Olaf Van der Stam (VWC) 6-2,6-2
