Cavaliers Begin Play in ITA All-American Main Draw

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Oct. 4, 2012

TULSA, Okla. – The Virginia men’s tennis team had two singles player and two doubles teams advance to round of 16 during the first day of main draw play the ITA All-American Championships. Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) and Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) highlighted the strong day for the Cavaliers as each advanced in both singles and doubles during Thursday’s play at the Case Tennis Center.

Styslinger, who reached the singles main draw with three wins in qualifying, won his first round match 6-4, 6-3 over Dymtro Mamedov of Utah. That set up a second-round match with teammate Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.), who had downed Indiana’s Josh MacTaggert 6-0, 6-2 in the first round. The first-year Styslinger upset his second-ranked senior teammate, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the round of 16, where he will play No. 13 seed Mikelis Libietis of Tennessee on Friday.

Domijan, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, posted a pair of straight-set wins. The 2011 ITA All-American Champion opened the day with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Daniel Whitehead of Texas. Later in the day Domijan downed Max Wennakoski of VCU 7-5, 6-1. He will play Slim Hamza of Utah in the round of 16 on Friday.

Thursday’s action concluded with both Cavalier teams winning their opener in the 32-team doubles draw. Jenkins and Styslinger transitioned from singles opponents to doubles teammates to defeat Hernus Pieters and Ben Waglund of Georgia 8-6 in the first round. Domijan and Harrison Richmond (Pawleys Island, S.C.), who reached the main draw through qualifying, won their first round match 8-6 over the LSU duo of Boris Arias and Chris Simpson.

Play continues Friday at the University of Tulsa with the round of 16 of singles, followed by the round of 16 and quarterfinals of doubles.