Full Hampton Roads Invite Results
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Junior Arsenio Culver won the singles title in the top bracket of the Hampton Roads Invitational at Huntington Park to put a stamp on the weekend for the Norfolk State men's tennis team.
Culver rallied to defeat Nikoloz Kurdadze of Drexel, 3-6, 6-2, (10-8), in the final of the men's 'A1' singles bracket to take home the title. The win comes after Culver won the doubles title at the Cape Henry Invitational last month.
After receiving a bye in the round of 16 Saturday, Culver got his singles weekend underway by taking down James Madison's Greg Vladimirsky, 6-4, 3-6, (10-8) in the quarterfinals. Culver then defeated Filip Rams of Temple in the semifinals, 7-6 (5), 3-0, before Rams retired due to injury, advancing Culver to the championship match.
Culver also met Kurdadze in the 'A1' doubles bracket on Friday, but Kurdadze and Manu Bajpai got the better of Culver and junior Ben Marks in the quarterfinals, 8-5. The NSU duo then defeated Anton Andersson and Adrian Vodislav of William & Mary, 8-6, in the consolation bracket.
In his 'A2' singles bracket, Marks defeated James Madison's Florent Sentenac, 6-1, 2-6, (7-3) in the quarterfinals before succumbing to eventual bracket champion Tim Johannsen of Virginia Commonwealth in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-2.
Junior Christian Romanzini found himself on the short end of a 6-3, 6-0 decision to Drexel's Bryan Nguyen in the round of 16 of the men's 'B1' singles bracket, but Romanzini saw his day end on a bright note in the consolation match against Loyola's Pierce Norton, an 8-5 win for the NSU newcomer.
Freshman Brian Bullock and junior Jonathan Sessom also fell short in their doubles bracket, losing to Robby Kay and Ryan Kent of Delaware, 8-2, in the quarterfinals of the 'C1' bracket before rebounding to defeat Loyola's Patrick Glaessner and Eric Michaelis, 8-5, in the consolation quarterfinals. Their day wrapped up with a 8-6 loss to another Loyola tandem, Ryan Fitzgerald and Connor Lisco, in the consolation semifinals.
Sophomore Dexter McDowell had the same misfortune, falling to Bryan Keelan of NJIT, 6-1, 6-1, in the round of 16 of the 'D2' singles bracket before also dropping an 8-2 decision to Timothy Staton-Davis of Howard in the consolation semifinals. McDowell advanced to the consolation semis after his round 1 competitor, Loyola's Fitzgerald, withdrew due to injury.
Sessom received a bye in the 'B2' bracket, but was later defeated by Mehdi Rhazali of Drexel, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.
Freshman Kent Austin dropped both of his singles matches in the 'C1' bracket, as he fell to Lisco of Loyola, 6-0, 6-1, in the round of 16 and to Jeff Marshall of Delaware, 8-2, in the first round of the consolation bracket.
Freshman Justin Shuck and Bullock also lost in their rounds of 16, as Howard's Tonique Merrell downed Shuck, 6-0, 6-1, in the 'D1' singles bracket. Bullock, meanwhile, stormed back to tie things up with Henrique Moreno of NJIT in the 'C2' bracket before Moreno pulled out a 6-2, 1-6, (7-2) win over Bullock.
In other doubles action, Romanzini and Austin fell in the 'B2' doubles bracket to Loyola's Norton and Kevin Zingler, 8-2, while McDowell and Shuck dropped an 8-3 decision to Virginia Wesleyan's Nick Leyva and Sky Masand, along with a 8-0 loss to Howard's Merrell and Staton-Davis in the consolation of the 'D2' bracket.
The last fall competition for the men's team will take place at the ITA Regional Oct. 22-25 at the University of Virginia.
