Saturday, 03/31/2012

WASHINGTON – Competing in three matches in just two days, the George Washington men’s tennis team split action with Atlantic 10 opponents Charlotte and Fordham on Saturday at the GW Tennis Center on the Mount Vernon Campus.

The Colonials fell to the 49ers, 4-3, in the first match of the day, which lasted staggering three-and-a-half hours and snapped a six-match winning streak. GW bounced back to defeat Fordham, 5-2, in the nightcap. Freshman Francisco Dias posted a perfect 4-0 mark throughout the matches in No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles play, while senior Richard Blumenfeld went 2-0 in No. 6 singles.

Against Charlotte, GW (11-7, 3-2 A-10) earned the doubles point with match victories at the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, but the Buff and Blue’s two singles wins weren’t enough to claim the match.

The tandem of Dias and senior Ugur Atalay earned a No. 1 doubles victory over Charlotte’s Alex Calott and Jack Williams by a 9-7 score. At the No. 2 spot, sophomore Ulrik Thomsen and junior Alexander van Gils downed Paul Cisti and Anthony Davison, 8-4. The duo of junior Leonardo Lapentti and sophomore Viktor Svensson dropped the No. 3 match to Kamil Khalil and Krzysztof Kwasniewicz, 8-5.

Dias – who is ranked No. 100 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll – posted an easy 6-3, 6-4 win over Williams in first-flight singles. Blumenfeld earned a three-set victory in the No. 6 spot as he downed Nate Shanok, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Van Gils was edged by Calott, 7-6, 7-5, in the No. 3 match, and Lapentti fell, 7-6, 6-4, to Cisti in the No. 4 spot.  In the fifth flight, Thomsen dropped a 6-1, 6-4 decision to Davison. Knotted 1-1 in No. 2 action, Atalay was forced to retire his match.

Against the Rams, the Colonials earned the doubles point by sweeping all three matches. Atalay and Dias teamed up for their second No. 1 doubles victory with an 8-5 mark over Fordham’s Mischa Koran and Kuba Kowalski.

Thomsen and van Gils posted their second No. 2 doubles win of the afternoon with an 8-5 victory over Srikar Alla and Max Peara, 8-5, and Lapentti and Svensson downed Peder Gram and J.J. Tauil, 8-3.

Dias completed his perfect weekend with a 6-3, 6-1 No. 1 singles victory over Kowalski. Van Gils downed Koran, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 3 spot, and Lapentti rallied for a three-set victory over Gram by scores of 0-6, 6-4, 6-0. Blumenfeld earned his second No. 6 singles victory with a 7-5, 6-3 mark over Krouham.

Atalay dropped a 7-5, 6-3 match to Alla at the No. 2 spot, and Thomsen fell to Peara in the No. 5 spot, 6-1, 6-1.

The Colonials travel to James Madison on Friday, April 6, for a 1 p.m. match before returning home to host Radford for GW’s Senior Day on Sunday, April 8.


Charlotte 4, George Washington 3
Singles
No. 1 – #100 Francisco Dias (GW) def. Jack Williams (CHA) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 – Kamil Khalil (CHA) def. Ugur Atalay (GW) – 6-2, 1-6, retired
No. 3 – Alex Calott (CHA) def. Alexander van Gils (GW) – 7-6, 7-5
No. 4 – Paul Cisti (CHA) def. Leonardo Lapentti (GW) – 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
No. 5 – Anthony Davison (CHA) def. Ulrik Thomsen (GW) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 – Richard Blumenfeld (GW) def. Nate Shanok (CHA) – 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 – Atalay/Dias (GW) def. Calott/Williams (CHA) – 9-7
No. 2 – Thomsen/van Gils (GW) def. Cisti/Davison (CHA) – 8-4
No. 3 – Khalil/Kwasniewicz (CHA) def. Lapentti/Svensson (GW) – 8-5


George Washington 5, Fordham 2
Singles
No. 1 – #100 Francisco Dias (GW) def. Kuba Kowalski (FOR) – 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 – Srikar Alla (FOR) def. Ugur Atalay (GW) – 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 – Alexander van Gils (GW) def. Mischa Koran (FOR) – 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Leonardo Lapentti (GW) def. Peder Gram (FOR) – 0-6, 6-4, 6-0
No. 5 – Max Peara (FOR) def. Ulrik Thomsen (GW) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 – Richard Blumenfeld (GW) def. Jan Krouham (FOR) – 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 – Atalay/Dias (GW) def. Koran/Kowalski (FOR) – 8-5
No. 2 – Thomsen/van Gils (GW) def. Alla/Peara (FOR) – 8-5
No. 3 – Lapentti/Svensson (GW) def. Gram/Tauil (FOR) – 8-3

- GW -