ELON, N.C- The Longwood men's tennis team returned to action and competed as individuals at the Elon Invitational from Friday until Sunday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

Singles:

Luis Reis was defeated by Eder Blanco (NC A&T) 6-4, 6-0 in Phoenix Singles. He then defeated Oliver Saarinnen (NC Central) and was defeated in his finals match by Devon Moskowitz in a lengthy match (UNCG) 6-2, 3-6, 10-3.

Yoav Weinberg was defeated by David Fishberg (UNCC) and Rafa Mujan (Radford) 4-6, 6-1, 10-4 in the Phoenix Singles.

Ernest Rocabert was on fire through his first two matches, having beat Emiliano Jonquera (Hampton) in straight sets, and Robert Hagen (Radford) 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-6 (5). Rocabert was in the semi-finals of the Phoenix singles before falling to Bruno Serra (UNCA) in straight sets.

Lukas Krause opened up the Powell singles with a victory against Samuele Pla (Queens) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Krause then fell to Daniel Flynn (Hampton) in straight sets.

Vselovod Rusin won his first two matches in the White Singles against Ian Pederson (NC A&T) and Ibraham Abbas (NFSU). He ultimately fell in the semi-finals against Neiman Sneed (NC Central).

Gary Huang defeated Neiman Sneed in a long three set match and fell in the next round of the White Singles 6-4, 6-1 to Euan Lynes (Queens).

Nikhil Kulkarni had an opening round BYE in the White singles and fell to Jay Montague from UNCG.

Ryan Foster was in the round robin singles and opened up against Laquon Gilchrest (NC Central) and won in comeback fashion 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Foster also defeated Roosevelt Brown in straight sets and won the round robin part of the tournament.
 
Doubles

Duos Weinberg/Reis and Huang/Rocabert competed in the Phoneix doubles. Weinberg and Reis went to the semi finals after defeating duos from Elon/Liberty and Norfolk State The tandem dropped the semi final against Rebechini/Lunin from Norfolk State. Huang and Rocabert fell to pairings from UNC Greensboro and James Madison.

Krause and Kulkarni teamed up in the Powell doubles and made it to the semi-finals after defeating Gwynn and Khrysuk from UNC Greensboro. They ultimately fell to Bharathy and Sneed from NC Central and the duo of Johns and Moskovitz from UNC Greensboro, 6-4.

Rusin and Foster teamed up in the White doubles and defeated Lena and Abbas from Norfolk State. They then fell to Cannon and Montague from UNC Greensboro before defeating Liam and Olmedo against NC Central in the third place match for White singles.
 
WHAT THEY SAID

"The guys showed a lot of promise and competed well this weekend," said head coach Adam Jackson following the Elon Invitational. "I'm excited to watch them improve and grow as we get healthy and continue to test ourselves."
 
UP NEXT:
The men's team looks on to the River City Open, starting on October 7^th hosted by Richmond University.