DAVIDSON, N.C. — Led by senior
Tareq Alani’s (Chapel Hill, N.C.) prefect weekend in singles matches, seven Wildcats in all had winning marks in singles during the two-day Davidson/Jim Causey Men’s Tennis Invitational held on the campus of Davidson College.
Playing in their second home fall invitational in as many weekends, the Wildcats again had another successful run playing on their home courts, this time against players from the schools of Gardner-Webb, Appalachian State and Richmond.
Alani scored a perfect 3-0 mark in singles play, earning well-played wins over William Kenny of GW (6-1, 6-1), Justin Baker of Richmond (6-2, 7-6(3)), and then finishing out the weekend with an 8-4 pro-set victory over a player from the Mountaineers.
Freshman
Chris Mark (Union City, Calif.) followed with a 2-0 record in singles action as he was one of six ‘Cats to score two wins in singles over the weekend. Mark, who tallied a 2-0 mark last weekend at the Jeff Frank Invitational, opened the Causey Invite with a 6-4, 7-6 triumph over Matt Parker of the GW Bulldogs. He then won an 8-6 pro-set over Humblet of ASU.
The Freshmen tandem of
Joe Schafer (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and
Kevin Moore (Overland, Kan.) also participated over the weekend with Schafer going 2-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles play, while Moore took part in doubles, teaming with
Carter Braxton (Charlotte, N.C.) (1-1 in singles) and had a team-best 3-0 mark. The duo scored doubles wins of 8-1, 8-2 and 8-7 for their perfect weekend.
Schafer, who led the charge last weekend with a perfect mark, opened singles play with a straight set 6-3, 6-4 win over Jesse Feder of Richmond and then earned his second win with a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Rafael Altmayer of Gardner-Webb.
Eric Noble (Fayetteville, N.C.) matched his record from last weekend, going 2-1 with wins over ASU and Richmond in singles play. He also teamed with fellow senior
Sam Burns (Banner Elk, N.C.) in doubles play and went 2-1 as they helped the Wildcats take all eight doubles matches against Gardner-Webb and Richmond.
Burns had a nice weekend in singles play too, with an opening 6-3, 6-0 victory over Matt Herrock of the Bulldogs and then earning a 5-1 pro-set win after his player from ASU who was forced to retire.
Rounding out the Wildcat lineup over the weekend was
Calum Gee (Ayr, Scotland) and
Walker Lyons (Wallingford, Pa.), who combined to go 4-1 in singles play and each picked up two wins apiece in doubles play. Gee, who scored straight set wins over ASU (8-6) and GW (6-3, 6-2), nearly went perfect for the weekend, just dropping a three-setter to AJ Nelson of Richmond. He opened the match with a 6-3 win, but fell 3-6 in the second set and then lost a super tie breaker, 10-7.
After dropping his first match to Sebastian Fachet of Richmond, Lyons came back with wins over Roman Piftor of GW, a three-setter (2-6, 7-6, 11-9), and Constance of App. State, 8-4.
Davidson will return to action next weekend when it plays at the North Carolina Regional Tournament held on the campus of UNC.