JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (September 19, 2023) – North Alabama Men's Tennis opened its fall season this past weekend at the Jax State Invitational at Jacksonville State in flying fashion, with the Lions claiming the title in Jacksonville, Ala.
In the tournament that included Jacksonville State, Samford and Kennesaw State, the Lions came on top with 23 overall wins across singles and doubles, followed by 19 from the Gamecocks, 16 from the Owls and two from the Bulldogs.
The tournament was highlighted by the all-Lion affair in the doubles' final as freshmen Izan Orgiles and Alberto Altur defeated sophomore Lachlan Brain and freshman Birtan Duran 7-6 (8), cementing the top four spots in UNA's favor.
Altur/Orgiles got their tournament going with an opening win against Logan Haga/Matei Palcau of JSU by a score of 7-6 (4) before advancing to the next round after Alberto defeated Aman Dahiya (4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1) and Izan Orgiles beat Xavier Sarda of JSU (6-3, 6-4). They defeated Joel Gibson/Hugo Salmeron of Kennesaw State in doubles, 6-3, and both singles in straight sets before meeting Brain/Duran in the finals.
Brain/Duran would drop their first doubles to Brian Capalnean/Seru Tezuka of KSU by a 7-6 (4) score before rebounding in the singles match with wins over Lucius Soller/Zach Murphy of JSU. The pair were defeated by Sam Baldwin/Anthony Weingarten of KSU by 6-2 in doubles but got two wins in singles, having a final score of 2-1 over KSU. The team went on to face Altur/Orgiles in the final doubles.
The pair of sophomore Federico Scotuzzi and junior Nazar Fedoryshyn picked up a win 6-3 over Alin Fatu/Marko Milosavjevic of JSU on day two before rounding out doubles action with a 6-4 win over Soller & Murphy of JSU on day three.
In singles' action, the Lions picked up 17 total victories throughout the three-day weekend.
On day one, Lachlan Brain, Izan Orgiles and Alberto Altur all won their opening matchups in round two of singles competition. Brain defeated Lucious Soller of JSU (7-5, 6-3), while Orgiles earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Xavier Sarda Marti of JSU. Altur grabbed the final single win of the day for the Lions with a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 decision over Aman Dahiya of JSU.
Day two saw North Alabama win all their respective matches, earning a total of nine victories on the day, while day three of singles saw four Lions win their final match of the invitational.
For full results, click here.
Men's Tennis will be back in action on Sept. 29-Oct. 1 as two players will play in the ITA All-American Qualifiers, while five compete in the Samford Hidden Dual in Birmingham, Ala.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
