Tournament Results
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Juniors Arsenio Culver and Ben Marks won the top doubles bracket to highlight the weekend for the Norfolk State men's tennis team at the Cape Henry Invitational at the Cape Henry Racket Club.
On Friday, the men competed in doubles, with Culver and Marks winning the men's 'A' flight doubles draw. The two defeated Kyle Tobin and Garrett Widing of CNU, 8-6, and followed that up with an 8-1 defeat of Virginia Wesleyan's Zak Bartley and Ryan Sadinski. The Spartan pair then won the bracket with an 8-6 win over Gianandrea Heyer and Eric Shulman of CNU.
Culver also advanced to the semifinal round of the 'A' singles bracket before withdrawing due to injury. On Saturday, he defeated Christopher Newport's Matt King, 6-1, 4-6, (10-1), and downed junior teammate Christian Romanzini, 6-4, 6-3. Romanzini opened play in the bracket with a 6-3, 6-2 win over CNU's Lorenzo Sison before his match with Culver.
Culver withdrew from his match against Heyer due to injury Sunday in the semifinal.
A pair of freshmen in Kent Austin and Brian Bullock also advanced in the 'B' bracket in their first collegiate action. Austin defeated Virginia Wesleyan's Donnie Greathouse, 6-1, 3-0 ret., and CNU's Robbie Wagner, 6-4, 4-6, (10-8). Bullock, meanwhile, defeated Chris Yost of CNU, 6-4, 6-3, and Nick Leyva of VW, 6-3, 6-4.
Austin then got the better of Bullock, 6-1, 6-2 Sunday before Joey Manilla of CNU took down Austin, 6-0, 6-3, in the championship match of the 'B' bracket.
Freshman Justin Shuck won his first match in the 'B' bracket, 6-4, 4-6, (10-2), over Steven Bond of VW, before coming up short against Kyle Tobin of CNU, 6-0, 6-2. Manilla defeated sophomore Dexter McDowell, 6-0, 6-0.
Also in the 'A' flight, junior Jonathan Sessom fell to Chris Pratt of Shepherd, 6-2, 6-3, while Marks lost to Shulman, 6-1, 6-1.
In the men's 'A' doubles bracket, Romanzini and Sessom fell to CNU's Dusty Nelson and Sison, 9-7, while Heyer and Shulman took down Austin and Bullock, 8-1. Romanzini and Sessom later defeated Austin and Bullock, 8-5, in the consolation before suffering a defeat at the hands of Tobin and Widing, 8-6.
A fourth NSU doubles pair, McDowell and Shuck, competed in the 'B' bracket Friday, where they pulled out an 8-3 decision over Chowan's Lamar Williams and George Ziedan before suffering an 8-2 setback to Taylor Boyle and Chris Pratt from Virginia Wesleyan.
The team will be back in action at the Hampton Roads Invitational Oct. 8-10 at Huntington Park in Newport News.
