WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Over the weekend, seven Hoyas played their way into the third day of singles competition at the D.C. Metro Championships.
The Hoyas made the most noise during the main draw of singles play, as five players won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals. The Hoyas were led by sophomore Christopher Belelieu (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) who advanced all the way to the semifinals of the B draw with victories over Maryland's Kenshalo (7-6(2), 6-3), Catholic's Hedge (6-1, 6-0), and American University's Procacci (default) before losing the semifinals to Americans Taralle (6-3, 6-3).
Marc Lohser (So., Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset), Nicholas Sklavounos (Jr., Waterford, Conn./Waterford), Andre Benjamin (Jr., New York, N.Y./Fieldston) and Jay Brupbacher (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXII) all had impressive weekends in singles as well. Lohser in the A draw defeated UMBC's Kouznetosov (7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3) and Towson's C. Rowland (6-0, 6-3) before dropping his third match to American's Hamori (6-4, 6-3). Sklavounos started his weekend off in the A draw with a hard fought victory over UMBC's Bondar (6-2, 4-6, 7-5). He was then victorious over George Washington's Hane (6-3, 6-4) before falling in the quarterfinals to American University's Moon (6-2, 4-6, 6-4). Benjamin in the B draw defeated UMBC's Ganito (6-3, 6-3) and then George Washington's Cady (6-4, 6-1) before he ran out of steam falling to American University's Taralle (6-3, 6-3). Brupbacher in the B draw started out with a win over George Mason University's Gilliland (6-0, 6-0). He then continued on with a victory over Towson's Selzer (6-2, 6-1) before falling to American's Fliegelman (6-2, 6-1).
Sophomore Troy Crichlow (Wilton, Mass./Milton Academy) dropped a three set match to George Washington's Kinzie Wright (1-6, 6-3, 6-2) in the A draw but he rattled off three straight wins in the consolation draw to place himself in the finals. Crichlow defeated Towson University's Ragase (6-3, 6-2), Howard University's Pagon (6-1, 6-2), and University of Maryland-Baltimore County's Bondar (6-1,6-1) to earn a spot in Monday's consolation final. Freshman Dennis Cravedi (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) fought back from a first round loss in the A draw to UMBC's Nudo (1-6, 6-3, 6-1) and earned a spot in the consolation quarterfinals with a win over George Washington's Vickstrom (6-3, 6-3). In the consolation quarterfinals Howard's Dudley defeated him, 6-2, 6-2.
In doubles action, the team of Sklavounos/Belelieu won their first match in the A draw 8-5 over Howard's Stephens/Hall-Bryant. They then fell to American University's Kulscar/Garg (8-2). The duo of Benjamin/Lohser lost two tough matches to Howard's Dudley/Pagon (8-5) and George Washington's Hane/Wright (8-4) in the A draw. Crichlow teamed with fellow sophomore Brupbacher to make their way to the consolation semifinals in doubles. The duo dropped their first match to UMBC's team of Misra/Nudo (8-2). They rebounded to defeat Towson's Rowland/Hamilton (8-6) before falling to George Washington's Hane/Vickstrom (8-5) in the semifinals.
It was a productive weekend for the Hoyas whose next match is against cross-town rival George Washington on Saturday, October 7th at Georgetown's McDonough Tennis Courts at 11:00 a.m.
