BLACKSBURG, Va. — Sophomores
Marc Ferrando and
Rodrigo Guijarro advanced to the round of 16 in the doubles draw to lead the Longwood men's tennis team at the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships at Virginia Tech's Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center over the weekend.
The pair topped Ethan Boswell and Damian Sancilio of James Madison 8-4 in the opening round before earning an 8-5 victory over Loyola's Petter Hagen and Ryan Gill. Their run ended with an 8-5 loss to Virginia's top-seeded duo of Jangjun Kim and Andrés Santamarta Roig.
Three Lancers found their way into the main singles draw of the event, with both Ferrando and Guijarro winning twice in qualifying to progress. Ferrando opened with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Hampton's Benedict Badza before defeating Mount St. Mary's Sergei Likhogrud 6-4, 6-1. Guijarro advanced with a three-set victory over James Madison's Harrison Lee, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, before defeating George Mason's Deniz Okyay 6-2, 6-3.
Marko Mrdak also earned a qualifying-round victory, rallying past Mason's Egor Zakharov 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Mrdak fell in his second qualifying match, 6-3, 6-3, to William & Mary's Dylan Chou.
In the main draw, Guijarro pushed Old Dominion's Piet Steveker to a third-set tiebreaker before falling 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3). Ferrando lost to Virginia Tech's Patrik Jurina 6-1, 6-4, and Daniel Borisov fell to ODU's Jean-Karim Olivier de Sardan 6-3, 6-0.
Ferrando later dropped a consolation match to Norfolk State's Szymon Malecki, 6-0, 6-0, on Saturday, while Borisov and Guijarro's matches in the back draw were canceled due to rain.
Mrdak and Borisov also competed in the main doubles draw, falling 8-6 to Richmond's Grant Cohen and Paxton Pritchard.
Longwood returns to action for the Big South Men's Individual Tennis Championship Oct. 23-25 in Rock Hill, S.C.
