CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – William & Mary men's tennis sophomores
Daniel Pellerito and
Oren Vasser won a pair of matches on the first day of the ITA Atlantic Region Championships to advance to the third round in singles action.
Pellerito pushed his win streak to four matches, dropping just six games in each of his two victories on Thursday. He tallied a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Longwood's Ignacio Sandoval in the opening round, before topping Mark Militzer of Georgetown, 6-2, 6-4. The Tribe sophomore sits at 8-2 on the year and meets No. 17-32 seed Paul Mendoza of James Madison in the third round on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Dell Courts.
Vasser needed three sets in the first round to dispose of Duqesne's Alex Mascioli, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. In the second round, the Tribe sophomore rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Saint Joseph's Beekman Schaeffer. Vasser extended his win streak to three matches and brought his fall win total to four. He takes on No. 13 seed Amadeo Blasco of Longwood in the third round on Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center.
With Pellerito and Vasser advancing, the Tribe will have seven competitors among the final 64 in singles action at the regional. Five Green and Gold players received seeds and as a result byes into the third round. Sophomore
Joseph Brailovsky is the top-seeded W&M player at No. 7, while senior
Brenden Volk, juniors
Sebastian Quiros and
Finbar Talcott as well as freshman
George Davis were all No. 17-32 seeds.
Junior
Chen Ruo split his matches at the regional. He dropped just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Virginia's Jerome Romualdez in the opening round before falling to Richmond's George Lovitt, 6-3, 7-6, in the second round. Ruo is 4-2 during the fall campaign.
The second day of the ITA Atlantic Region Championships begins with the third round of singles action at 9 a.m. on Friday. The doubles draw gets underway in the afternoon with the first and second rounds of competition.
W&M Results from the ITA Atlantic Region Championships
Singles First Round (256)
Chen Ruo (W&M) def. Jerome Romualdez (Virginia) – 6-1, 6-1
Daniel Pellerito (W&M) def. Ignacio Sandoval (Longwood) – 6-4, 6-2
Oren Vasser (W&M) def. Alex Mascioli (Duquesne) – 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
Singles Second Round (128)
George Lovitt (Richmond) def.
Chen Ruo (W&M) – 6-3, 7-6
Daniel Pellerito (W&M) def. Mark Militzer (Georgetown) – 6-2, 6-4
Oren Vasser (W&M) def. Beekman Schaeffer (St. Joe's) – 6-2, 6-2
