Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Men's Tennis Opens Bluejay Invitational With Strong Start
9/29/2017 10:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Bluejays won nine singles matches and finished 7-1 in doubles
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men's tennis team opened the Bluejay Invitational with a strong showing on Friday afternoon at the Koch Family Tennis Center.
The Bluejays went a perfect 9-0 in the first round of singles and finished with only one setback during the first two rounds of doubles play.
Creighton started the event with four opening round doubles victories. During Flight A doubles, Stratton Brown and Mac Mease fought off a pair from Nebraska-Omaha for a 7-6 victory. The senior duo of Alex Koca and Brooks Kendall claimed a 6-1 win over a North Dakota team in Flight A bracket as well.Â
In Flight B, Armando Gandini and Joe Hoff kicked off the afternoon with a 6-1 victory to advance to the winner's bracket. Daniel Lopez-Rey and Michael Koch also claimed a 6-1 win during the first round of Flight C.
During second round action, the Bluejays advanced two pairs into championship matches, while another improved to 2-0 during a round-robin flight, and the final duo fell into a third-place match.
Koca and Kendall won a tiebreaker 7-4 during the Flight A semifinals to advance into Saturday morning's championship match.Â
Gandini and Hoff advanced to the Flight B title match with a 6-2 win over a pair from North Dakota.
Lopez-Rey and Koch claimed their second victory during Flight C doubles, 6-4.
Brown and Mease suffered Creighton's lone loss of the afternoon during semifinal action during Flight A doubles. The Bluejay pair fell into an early hole before battling back coming up just short to North Dakota's Lukas Buth and Daniel Martinez, 7-6.
Brown, Koca, Gandini, Lopez-Rey, Hoff and Koch each earned straight-sets singles victories on Friday.Â
Brown advanced during Flight A play, Koca and Gandini in Flight B, Lopez-Rey in C, Hoff in Flight D, and Koch in Flight E.
Kendall rebounded from a 5-7 loss during his opening set to win the final two frames and advance to the winner's side of Flight A. The senior won the second set 6-4 before claiming a 6-3 win in set No. 3 against South Dakota State's Emerson Styles.
In Flight D, Mease won a tiebreaker during his opening set, fell 6-4 during the second, but responded with a 6-4 win in the deciding set.
Also, Marko Vukalovic opened his Flight E singles match with a 6-1 first-set win before falling 6-4 in the second. In the final set, Vukalovic squeaked out a 7-5 victory.
"Today was a great start," head coach Tom Lilly said. "In such a competitive tournament to win all nine singles and go 7-1 in doubles is impressive. Tomorrow will provide many challenging moments and I hope that we can stay strong mentally and compete."
The Bluejay Invitational resumes on Saturday morning with the final round of doubles at 9 a.m. followed by two rounds of singles play.
Results
Doubles Flight A
Stratton Brown/Mac Mease def. Dunn/Moorhead (Nebraska-Omaha), 7-6
Buth/Martinez (North Dakota) def. Brown/Mease, 7-6
Alex Koca/Brooks Kendall def. Callegari/Hokanson (North Dakota), 6-1
Koca/Kendall def. Finerty/Pease (Northern Colorado), 7-6 (4)
Doubles Flight B
Armando Gandini/Joe Hoff def. Reinke/Castro (South Dakota State), 6-1
Gandini/Hoff def. Mailes/Laska (North Dakota), 6-2
Doubles Flight C
Daniel Lopez-Rey/Michael Koch def. Abromeit/Boles (Doane), 6-1
Lopez/Koch def. Mrozek/LaPoint (North Dakota), 6-4
Flight A Singles
Stratton Brown def. Kyle Pease (North Dakota), 6-1, 6-1
Brooks Kendall def. Emerson Styles (South Dakota State), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Flight B Singles
Alex Koca def. Alex Mailes (North Dakota), 6-1, 6-3
Armando Gandini def. Ignacio Morell (Doane), 6-2, 6-2
Flight C Singles
Daniel Lopez-Rey def. Matt Hokenson (North Dakota), 6-4, 6-0
Flight D Singles
Joe Hoff def. Grayson McCartney (Doane), 6-3, 6-4
Mac Mease def. Chuck Tang (South Dakota State), 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4
Flight E SinglesÂ
Michael Koch def. Eden Mrozek (North Dakota), 6-1, 6-1
Marko Vukalovic def. Elliott Abromeit (Doane), 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
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The Bluejays went a perfect 9-0 in the first round of singles and finished with only one setback during the first two rounds of doubles play.
Creighton started the event with four opening round doubles victories. During Flight A doubles, Stratton Brown and Mac Mease fought off a pair from Nebraska-Omaha for a 7-6 victory. The senior duo of Alex Koca and Brooks Kendall claimed a 6-1 win over a North Dakota team in Flight A bracket as well.Â
In Flight B, Armando Gandini and Joe Hoff kicked off the afternoon with a 6-1 victory to advance to the winner's bracket. Daniel Lopez-Rey and Michael Koch also claimed a 6-1 win during the first round of Flight C.
During second round action, the Bluejays advanced two pairs into championship matches, while another improved to 2-0 during a round-robin flight, and the final duo fell into a third-place match.
Koca and Kendall won a tiebreaker 7-4 during the Flight A semifinals to advance into Saturday morning's championship match.Â
Gandini and Hoff advanced to the Flight B title match with a 6-2 win over a pair from North Dakota.
Lopez-Rey and Koch claimed their second victory during Flight C doubles, 6-4.
Brown and Mease suffered Creighton's lone loss of the afternoon during semifinal action during Flight A doubles. The Bluejay pair fell into an early hole before battling back coming up just short to North Dakota's Lukas Buth and Daniel Martinez, 7-6.
Brown, Koca, Gandini, Lopez-Rey, Hoff and Koch each earned straight-sets singles victories on Friday.Â
Brown advanced during Flight A play, Koca and Gandini in Flight B, Lopez-Rey in C, Hoff in Flight D, and Koch in Flight E.
Kendall rebounded from a 5-7 loss during his opening set to win the final two frames and advance to the winner's side of Flight A. The senior won the second set 6-4 before claiming a 6-3 win in set No. 3 against South Dakota State's Emerson Styles.
In Flight D, Mease won a tiebreaker during his opening set, fell 6-4 during the second, but responded with a 6-4 win in the deciding set.
Also, Marko Vukalovic opened his Flight E singles match with a 6-1 first-set win before falling 6-4 in the second. In the final set, Vukalovic squeaked out a 7-5 victory.
"Today was a great start," head coach Tom Lilly said. "In such a competitive tournament to win all nine singles and go 7-1 in doubles is impressive. Tomorrow will provide many challenging moments and I hope that we can stay strong mentally and compete."
The Bluejay Invitational resumes on Saturday morning with the final round of doubles at 9 a.m. followed by two rounds of singles play.
Results
Doubles Flight A
Stratton Brown/Mac Mease def. Dunn/Moorhead (Nebraska-Omaha), 7-6
Buth/Martinez (North Dakota) def. Brown/Mease, 7-6
Alex Koca/Brooks Kendall def. Callegari/Hokanson (North Dakota), 6-1
Koca/Kendall def. Finerty/Pease (Northern Colorado), 7-6 (4)
Doubles Flight B
Armando Gandini/Joe Hoff def. Reinke/Castro (South Dakota State), 6-1
Gandini/Hoff def. Mailes/Laska (North Dakota), 6-2
Doubles Flight C
Daniel Lopez-Rey/Michael Koch def. Abromeit/Boles (Doane), 6-1
Lopez/Koch def. Mrozek/LaPoint (North Dakota), 6-4
Flight A Singles
Stratton Brown def. Kyle Pease (North Dakota), 6-1, 6-1
Brooks Kendall def. Emerson Styles (South Dakota State), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Flight B Singles
Alex Koca def. Alex Mailes (North Dakota), 6-1, 6-3
Armando Gandini def. Ignacio Morell (Doane), 6-2, 6-2
Flight C Singles
Daniel Lopez-Rey def. Matt Hokenson (North Dakota), 6-4, 6-0
Flight D Singles
Joe Hoff def. Grayson McCartney (Doane), 6-3, 6-4
Mac Mease def. Chuck Tang (South Dakota State), 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4
Flight E SinglesÂ
Michael Koch def. Eden Mrozek (North Dakota), 6-1, 6-1
Marko Vukalovic def. Elliott Abromeit (Doane), 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
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Players Mentioned
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