1.24.2012

Georgetown Box Score | VCU Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – The Longwood Universtity men's tennis team opened its 2012 campaign January 22 at the VCU 4x1 Invitational hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University on its campus in Richmond, Virginia, falling to Georgetown 2-3 and the host Rams 0-5. Senior Nobu Tanaka|Potomac, Md. (St. Johns College HS) and junior transfer Giorgi Khmiadashvili|Tbilisi, Georgia (Public School 148) were the only two Lancers (0-2) to win in either match on Sunday. The Lancers are back in action Sunday, February 5 at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Against Georgetown, Tanaka defeated Shane Korber 6-2, 7-6 (4) at No. 1 singles, while Khmiadashvili took #2 singles over Andrew Bruhn 4-6, 6-2, 10-2. Freshman Daniel Elston|Bath, England (Ralph Allen School) dropped the #3 spot 6-2, 6-1 to Charlie Caris, while Andrew Dottino beat freshman Harry Kelleher|Sydney, Australia (St Aloysius' College) 6-3, 6-3.

In the doubles matchup, sophomore Edward Becker|Sydney, Australia (Manly Selective Campus) and freshman Steed Johnson|Raleigh, N.C. (Broughton) fell 7-5, 6-4 to Casey Distaso and Brian Ward.

"It's always disappointing when you lose," said head coach Jakob Gustafsson. "Today we had our chances to do something great but fell just short in the end."

In the day's second match against VCU, Tanaka fell 6-1, 6-3 at #1 singles to Filip Svensson, Khmiadashvili lost by the same score to Max Wennakoski at #2, at #3 Jaime Vasquez won 6-1, 6-1 over Becker, and Johnson was topped in the #4 match by Camill Salomon 6-0, 6-1.

Kelleher and Elston paired up against Alexis Huegas and Antoine Baroz for the lone doubles match against the Rams but fell  6-3, 7-6 (2).

"The upside of it all is that we have such a young team, and, with only a few more weeks of practice, I know we can play much better than today," added Gustafsson. "I look forward to some hard work at practice to see us grow coser to our potential!"


Georgetown, 3-2
Singles
#1 - Nobu Tanaka (LU) d. Korber (Gtown)              6-2, 7-6 (4)
#2 - Giorgi Khmiadashvili (LU) d. Bruhn (Gtown)    4-6, 6-2, 10-2
#3 - Caris (Gtown) d. Daniel Elston (LU)                 6-2, 6-1
#4 - Dottino (Gtown) d. Harry Kelleher (LU)            6-3, 6-3
Doubles
Distaso/Ward (Gtown) d. Edward Becker/Steed Johnson (LU)    7-5, 6-4

VCU, 5-0
Singles
#1 – Svensson (VCU) d. Tanaka (LU)                   6-1, 6-3
#2 – Wennakoski (VCU) d. Khmiadashvili (LU)    6-1, 6-3
#3 – Vazquez (VCU) d. Becker (LU)                     6-1, 6-1
#4 – Salomon (VCU) d. Johnson (LU)                  6-0, 6-1
Doubles
Heugas/Baroz (VCU) d. Kelleher/Elston (LU)    6-3, 7-6 (2)