CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- First-year Haig Schneiderman impressed in his collegiate debut, winning 6-1, 6-2 over Nebraska's Renato Melo in the singles B flight at the Virginia Invitational.

In the season opener for Columbia, four Lions competed -- Schneiderman, Bogdan Borta, Jon Wong and Mihai Nichifor. With his win, Schneiderman advanced to play on Saturday at 10 a.m.

"Haig won a tough match in the B flight," head coach Bid Goswami said after the match. "He beat a good player."

In the singles flight A, Wong was seeded third but was upset by Evgeny Slesarev of Gardner-Webb, 6-4, 6-1.

"Jon didn't play as well as I thought he could," said Goswami, the Columbia Tennis Alumni and Friends Head Coach of Men's Tennis. "He might have been a little rusty since he didn't play much this summer."

Further down the A-1 draw, Columbia's Mihai Nichifor fell to second-seeded Sanam Singh of Virginia, 6-2, 6-3.

In A-2 singles, senior Bogdan Borta moved into the consolation bracket, bowing out in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to Virginia Tech's Sebastien Jacques.

"It was a long day," Goswami explained after the first day. "The rain moved us around all day. Unfortunately we didn't do very well even though we played pretty well."

Columbia is back in action tomorrow with action beginning at 10 a.m. at the Virginia Invitational.