Final Elon Invite Results

ELON, N.C. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team got its season started off on the right foot at the Elon Invitational, as the trio of seniors Daniel Grauel, Igor Braga and Pascal Domnik combined to go 8-3 in singles competition.
 
Of the three NSU players, Domnik competed in the highest bracket, the A1 singles draw. It was also there where he picked up a big win. After opening up the tournament with a win and a loss, Domnik earned a walkover victory over Coastal Carolina's Philippe Tsargarides, ranked No. 77 in the nation in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) top 125 preseason singles rankings.
 
The three-day Elon Invitational was held from Friday through Sunday at Elon's Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
 
In the top bracket of the tournament, Domnik opened things up with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Elon's Brian Kowalski. He fell to ODU's Michael Weindl, 6-4, 7-6(7), before rebounding to defeat Tsargarides.
 
"We are very pleased with our performances this weekend," said Spartan head coach Worth Richardson. "Not only were we able to win matches against top mid-major competition, but we were able to better identify areas we can improve on moving forward. We will work hard this week as we head up to U.Va. to face some strong competition."
 
Grauel took part in the B2 singles draw. After suffering a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Adam Fenton of Elon, Grauel won three straight. He downed Jean-Marc Krone of Campbell, 6-3, 6-1, and followed that up with wins over Kasey Countee of East Carolina (6-3, 6-1) and Nico de Groof of Georgia Southern, 6-3, 6-2.
 
Both Elon and ECU finished the 2014 season nationally ranked.
 
Braga, meanwhile, won three straight to open up play in the C1 singles draw. He earned a 6-0, 6-2 victory over James Madison's Tim Portnov as well as a 6-0, 6-7(6), 6-4 win against Georgia Southern's Pradeep Raja. Braga won the first set, 6-4, but was down 6-7(4) to Dan Sablik of Elon before Sablik retired from the match.
 
In the final of the C1 draw, Braga was unable to make it a full sweep, falling 6-1, 6-4 to Renan Samed of Coastal Carolina.
 
Domnik and Braga also competed in the B1 doubles draw. They earned an 8-1 win over ECU's Countee and Ross Nigro, 8-1. They were unable to keep the momentum going, though, falling to a pair of UNC Greensboro tandems. Cameron Smith and William Albright won 8-4, and then Victor Marum and Nazhone Wilkins downed the NSU duo by an 8-6 score.
 
The men's team will compete in the U.Va. Fall Classic next Friday through Sunday.