ITA Regional Results
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team wrapped up the ITA Atlantic Regional on Thursday, with juniors Ben Marks and Arsenio Culver winning their consolation matches at the Snyder Tennis Center.
Culver and Marks got there after falling in the opening round of the main bracket on Wednesday, as did freshman Kent Austin and junior Christian Romanzini. All four lost in three sets in the opening round.
After dropping the first set, 6-3, Culver defeated Virginia Tech's Adam Lawton on Thursday in the consolation match by coming back to take the last two sets, 6-2, 6-2. Marks had a slightly easier time against Georgetown's Andrew Bruhn, defeating Bruhn in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Seeded in the 17-32 range in the main bracket, Culver lost the first set to James Madison's Florent Sentenac, 6-4, before rebounding to take the second set, 6-3. Sentenac moved on in the bracket with a 6-3 victory in the third set.
Culver's doubles partner Marks got off to a strong start in his opening-round match by winning the first set, 6-1, over JMU's Bertrand Moulin, before Moulin grabbed the second set, 6-2. The third set went extra before Moulin finally got the win, 7-5.
Romanzini faced Virginia Tech's Leonardo Lapentti, and after dropping the first set, 6-2, Romanzini stormed back to take the second, 7-5. Lapentti proved too much in the third set in a 6-4 win.
Like Marks, Austin took the first set against Morgan State's Aaron Benjamin, 6-4, but Benjamin wore down Austin and pulled out the win after capturing the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
In doubles action, Culver and Marks received a bye in the first round, but were unable to get going in the second round on Thursday, losing 8-4 to Old Dominion's Benjamin Chomette and Alfredo Rodriguez. Romanzini and Austin had a similar fate in their match on Wednesday, going down by an 8-2 score to Virginia Tech's Lucas Oliveira and Trpimir Kujundzic.
Also in the consolation round, Romanzini lost to Troy List of Lehigh, 6-3, 6-3, while Austin went down by scores of 6-1, 6-0 to Adrian Vodislav of William & Mary.
The Regional marked the last competition of the fall for the team. The Spartans kick off their spring schedule at Old Dominion Jan. 16.
