BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (September 16, 2024) – North Alabama Men's Tennis opened the 2024 fall season at the Samford Invitational from Sept. 13-15, taking home 20 total wins across the weekend.
North Alabama competed in singles and doubles play against Sun Belt opponent Georgia Southern, also facing in-state foes Samford and UAB. The Lions opened the campaign with four wins against Samford and Georgia Southern before improving with six wins on day two against Georgia Southern and UAB. The final day saw North Alabama take 10 out of 11 matches against the Blazers and Bulldogs to round out the weekend in Birmingham.
Day one opened with doubles play against Samford and singles play against Georgia Southern. Sophomores Alberto Altur and Izan Orgiles got the day started with a top-flight 7-6 (4) win over Sandeep Mohandoss and Santiago Arredondo before sophomores Birtan Duran and Whitman Davis secured a 6-3 win from flight four over Martin Schwartzman and Charlie Piegza.
In singles play against the Eagles, Duran was able to be best Pol del Castillo from flight one, 6-4, 6-3, while freshman Satoru Nakajima beat Milan Ristov from flight six, 6-0, 7-5.
The second day opened with doubles against Georgia Southern, with UNA taking wins from flights three and four. Junior Lachlan Brain and Nakajima earned a flight three win by defeating Del Castillo and Matthew Mitchell, 6-3. Altur and Davis won the flight four matchup against Alex Amacher and Ristov, 7-6.
Day two singles led to four wins for the Lions over UAB. Freshman Samu Dominguez nabbed his first win of the weekend with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Charlie Peigza from flight six, with junior Lachlan Brain earning his first win with a 7-6, 2-2 (retired) result over Ondrej Volek from flight two. Nakajima won his second singles match, 6-1, 6-4, over opponent Hoan Mouret while Altur won his singles bout against Jake Anthony, 6-0, 6-2.
The final day saw North Alabama dominate with doubles and singles action against UAB and Samford, respectively. Beginning in doubles, Altur and Duran defeated JP Valdez and Mouret, 7-5, followed by a 6-4 win from senior Nazar Fedoryshyn and Nakajima over Anthony and Georgios Nouchakis. Orgiles and Brain went on to beat Hayden Menon and Sebastian Harrison, 6-3, while Dominguez and Davis defeated Piegza and Martin Schwartzman, 6-2.
Singles against the Bulldogs began with Orgiles claiming a 6-2, 6-1 win over Victorio Sardinha from flight four with Altur winning from flight six over Schwartzman, 6-2, 6-3. Davis also secured his first singles win with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Piegza from the seventh flight.
Duran and Nakajima capped an undefeated day in singles with flight wins from one and five. Duran beat Jb Pickard, 6-2, 7-5, with Nakajima defeating Arredondo, 6-4, 7-6. Fedoryshyn secured his first singles win to round out the weekend with a 7-6, 6-2 result over Menon.
All eight Lions secured at least two wins over the weekend, led by five by Altur and Nakajima. The Algemesí, Spain native went unbeaten in all three of his doubles while securing two wins in singles play. Nakajima won two of his doubles matches with a 3-0 weekend in singles play.
Full results can be found here.
UNA men's tennis will have its next outing at the Belmont Fall Invitational from Sept. 27-29 in Nashville, Tenn.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
