The Hoya men's tennis squad traveled to Richmond, Va. for a series of matches on Friday and Saturday, January 26-27, at the VCU Invitational. The Hoyas competed in contests against James Madison University, the University of Richmond, Radford University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Georgetown faced James Madison in the opening match on Friday and lost 5-0. Georgetown’s Ken Jordan (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) was narrowly defeated by Craig Anderson at #4 singles, 7-5, 7-5. In the #1 slot junior Nick Sklavounos (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) lost 6-1, 6-3 to Andrew Lux. At #2 JMU’s Mike Nelson was victorious over GU’s Marc Lohser (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) 6-0, 6-1. Michael Nelson (Trinidad & Tobago/Port-of-Spain) played #3 singles and fell to Mike Hendricksen, 6-1, 6-0. In the only doubles match played Hoya teammates Andre Benjamin (New York, N.Y./Fieldston) and Troy Crichlow (Wilton, Mass./Milton) were defeated by a 6-2, 6-2 score.
The Hoyas battled Radford on Friday afternoon and garnered one victory despite several tight matches, losing 4-1. The Hoyas won the doubles match as Jordan and Jay Brupbacher (Sparta, N.J./P. John XXII) defeated Bartlo Oosthuizen and Ross Harvey 6-3, 7-6(5). Lohser held two set points in his first set but lost 7-6, 6-3 to Noufal Nejdi at #2 singles. Sklavounos put himself in position to win at #1 singles by taking his first set 6-0, but his opponent Faycal Rhazali jumped out to an early second set lead and hung on for a 0-6, 7-6, 5-4(10-6) win at #1 singles. Crichlow lost 6-0, 6-3 at #3 singles and Benjamin fell 6-3, 6-1 playing the #4 position.
Saturday afternoon the Hoyas took on the Richmond Spiders in a 5 p.m. match, falling 3-2. Sklavounos rebounded from a first set loss to win his #1 singles match 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Lohser won the #2 singles match 7-5, 6-7(4), 5-3 ret. Dennis Cravedi (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) fought back from a service break deficit in the first set to get to a tiebreaker in the #3 singles match, but lost 7-6(5), 7-6(0). The Hoyas also fell in the doubles match as Benjamin and Crichlow were defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Rob Flader and Todd Parker. At #4 singles GU’s Nelson fell 6-3, 6-2 to Dan Scrafford.
In the final match of the Invitational, the Hoyas faced VCU, the #10 ranked team in the country and the 2000 NCAA Team Championship Finalist. In the #2 singles match, Lohser faced Ferdi Sanchez and built a second set lead at 3-0 before falling 6-2, 6-3. Benjamin was defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Matthias Hoglund at #4 singles. Sklavounos battled Daniel Casquero at #1 singles and fell 6-3, 6-4. In doubles, Jordan and Brupbacher faced Florian Marquardt and Mats Norin in a match that was suspended at 1-6, 2-2. The remaining singles match placed Chris Belelieu (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) against Joey Hopke, and it also was suspended at 6-4, 2-6. VCU claimed the victory 3-0.
The Hoyas updated dual match record, which includes the fall season, is 3-5. The Hoyas next face the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy in a 9:00 p.m. 4 + 1 match on Saturday, February 3 at the Big Vanilla Racquet Club in Arnold, Md.
VCU Invitational ResultsFriday 11 a.m. vs James Madison#1 Singles- Andrew Lux(JMU) d Nick Sklavounos 6-1,6-3#2 Singles- Luis Rosado(JMU) d Marc Lohser 6-0,6-1#3 Singles- Mike Hendricksen(JMU) d Mike Nelson 6-1,6-0#4 Singles- Craig Anderson(JMU) d Ken Jordan 7-5,7-5Doubles - Troy Stone/Colin Malcolm d. Andre Benjamin/Troy Crichlow 6-2,6-2Final Score- James Madison-5, Georgetown-0
Friday 5 p.m. vs Radford#1 Singles- Faycal Rhazali(Radford) d Sklavounos 0-6,7-6,5-4(10-6)#2 Singles- Noufal Nejdi(Radford) d. Lohser 7-6,6-3#3 Singles- Khalid Lhamidi(Radford) d. Crichlow 6-0,6-3#4 Singles- Daniel Najdes(Radford) d. Benjamin 6-3,6-1Doubles- Jordan/Jay Brupbacher d. Bartlo Oosthuizen/Ross Harvey(Radford)6-3,7-6(5)Final Score- Radford-4, Georgetown-1
Saturday 5 p.m. vs Richmond#1 Singles- Sklavounos d. Niki Doll(Richmond) 2-6,6-4,6-1#2 Singles- Lohser d. David Donn(Richmond) 7-5,6-7(4),5-3 ret.#3 Singles- Mark Scordo(Richmond) d Dennis Cravedi 7-6(5),7-6(0)#4 Singles- Dan Scrafford(Richmond) d Mike Nelson 6-3,6-2Doubles- Rob Flader/Todd Parker(Richmond) d Benjamin/Crichlow 6-4,6-4Final Score- Richmond-3, Georgetown-2
Saturday 9 p.m. vs #10 Virginia Commonwealth#1 Singles- Daniel Casquero(VCU) d Sklavounos 6-3,6-4#2 Singles- Ferdi Sanchez(VCU) d Lohser 6-2,6-3#3 Singles- Mattias Hoglund(VCU) d Benjamin 6-3,6-3#4 Singles- Chris Belelieu vs Joey Hopke(VCU) 6-4,2-6, suspendedDoubles- Jordan/Brupbacher vs Florian Marquardt/Mats Norin 1-6,2-2, suspendedFinal Score- VCU-3, Georgetown-0
