Lions Advance in Singles Main Draw at USTA/ITA Northeast Regionals
10/18/2014 10:08:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. - On the first day of the main draw at the United Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships two rounds of double play and one round of singles were on the docket for the Columbia men's tennis team at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center.
Eric Rubin and Richard Pham brought their winning momentum from the qualifying rounds into the main draw as the junior and sophomore defeated their first round opponents. Rubin took down Matt Nardell of Penn, while Pham bested Yale's Martin Svenning.
Mike Vermeer, who ranks No. 107, also took the singles court on day one and downed Jose Morales of Stony Brook to advance to the second round.
Five more Lions include seniors Winston Lin, Ashok Narayana, Max Schnur and Bert Vancura and junior Dragos Igant received byes in the first round and will start play Saturday.
Schnur and Narayana, who ranks sixth in the ITA, shined on the doubles court as the duo is the lone Columbia pair remaining. After a first-round bye, the top-seeded pair defeated Josh Yablon and Kial Kaiser of Princeton.
Lin and Vermeer also received a doubles first-round bye, but could not overcome the racquets of Penn's Nicolas Podesta and Jeremy Court.
Ignat and Vancura were eliminated in the first-round by St. Bonaventure's tandem of Eduardo Irizarry and Andrew Blair.
The third day of action is schedule to begin at the National Tennis Center at 8 a.m.
Day 2 Results
Doubles
(No.6/1) Schnur/Narayana bye in first round
(No.6/1) Schnur/Narayana def. Yablon/Kaiser (Princeton)
(5-8) Lin/Vermeer bye in first round
(5-8) Lin/Vermeer lost to Podesta/Court (Penn)
Igant/Vancura lost to Irizarry/Blair (St. Bonaventure)
Singles
Eric Rubin def. Nardell (Penn)
Richard Pham def. Svenning (Yale)
(No. 107/9-6) Mike Vermeer defeated Morales (Stony Brook)
(No. 8/1) Winston Lin bye in first round
(9-16) Max Schnur bye in first round
(5-8) Dragos Igant bye in first round
(No. 108/5-8) Ashok Narayana bye in first round
(17-32) Bert Vancura bye in first round
(ITA Rank/Tournament seed in parentheses)
Players Mentioned
