Men's Tennis | September 17, 2017

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The La Salle University men's tennis team put together a solid showing at the Villanova Invitational, which was held over three days and concluded on Sunday.

The tournament was a "two-and-one format", featuring two singles and one doubles match. Each team, comprised of two individuals from one school, needed to win two of the three matches to advance to the main draw while the other team dropped into the back draw. 

In the "Blue" draw, the duo of junior Francesco Mowrey and freshman Stanislav Nepomnyashchiy won its opening-round matchup against a team from Loyola (Md.), 2-1. Mowrey easily won his singles match, while the two Explorers picked up a 6-3 doubles win.

Facing the eventual co-championship squad from Villanova in the second round, the twosome fell by a 3-0 score and eventually dropped a hard-fought, third-round matchup with another team from Villanova. Each of the two singles matches went to a super-tiebreak, with Mowrey outlasting Stefan Suarez, 18-16, to earn the win.

The duo swept a team from Chestnut Hill to earn seventh place in the 15-team field.

Two pairs of La Salle teammates took part in the "White" draw -- freshman Connor Merrill and senior Tomas Christian comprised one group, joining the freshmen combo of Rogelio Gonzales and Colin Lucius.

Both teams won their opening-round match, with Lucius and Gonzales posting a 3-0 sweep over a team from Chestnut Hill. In the second round, the groups suffered 2-1 setbacks leading into the third round.

Christian and Merrill defeated the Saint Joseph's duo of Mike Santana Lucia and Sam Sauter by a 2-1 margin, as Christian clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-2 singles victory. Gonzales and Lucius took on a team from Delaware and disposed of the Blue Hens by a perfect 3-0 score. 

The two teams advanced to the fifth-place match but did not compete against one another and settled for a tie for fifth out of 15 teams.

In other action, sophomore Patrick Pascual and senior Joe DiOrio earned two wins in round-robin action at Rosemont College. The two teammates picked up two doubles wins while Pascual and DiOrio each earned a singles victory.

La Salle continues the fall season at the Saint Joseph's Invitational on Sept. 22-24.