Sept. 13, 2006
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion men's tennis team returns to action this weekend as the Monarchs participate in both the Hampton Roads Collegiate Invitational of Virginia Beach and the University of Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville.
Players from 22 schools will compete in the Virginia Invite, including 21 players ranked in the Preseason ITA Singles Rankings. Ten of those players competed in last season's NCAA Singles Championship, making the tournament's field one of the strongest in the nation.
In its fifth year of existence, the UVa Fall Invitational has become one of the nation's most prestigious fall tournaments. Last year, the singles field featured seven players that would go on to be selected to the NCAA Singles Championship, including five 2006 All-Americans.
Participating in the Virginia Invite will be Monarchs senior Henrique Cancado (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), junior Eigy Igarashi (Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil), and Harel Srugo (Kibutz Gazit, Israel). Two of the three are coming off performances at the Southern Intercollegiate. Srugo, ranked 18th in the ITA Preseason Poll, and Cancado each reached the quarterfinals of the divison I bracket. Igarashi kicks off his 2006 fall tournament season at the Virginia Invite entering the tournament ranked 78th in the ITA Preseason Poll.
At the Hampton Roads Invite, freshman Yakov Diskin (Yorktown, Va.), junior Rodrigo Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and senior Nate Grover (Suffolk, Va.) will all be in action for the first time this season. Diskin will be entering his first competition as a Monarch. Souza posted a 12-6 singles and 7-7 doubles mark last season, while Grover played his way to a 7-10 singles and 13-13 doubles record a year ago.
For more information, draw, and results on the University of Virginia Men's Open Tennis Tournament, visit www.virginiasports.com. For more information, draws, and results on the Hampton Roads Collegiate Invitational of Virginia Beach, visit www.usta.com.