Sept. 18, 2006
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Junior Rodrigo Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) caputred the flight A singles title and reached the finals of the flight A doubles bracket this past weekend at the Hampton Roads Collegaite Invitational of Virginia Beach.
Souza opened up play with a straight set, 6-3, 6-1 win over Richmond's Bobby McNally. He followed with a 6-2, 6-1, quarterfinal win over Norfolk State's Miroslav Vicek and a come from behind win over James Madison's Jesse Tar in the semifinals, 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (3). In the final, Souza defeated Norfolk State's Pavel Suchy, 6-2, 6-2.
Newcomer Yakov Diskin (Yorktown, Va.) made his Monarch debut in flight A singles. He picked up a round of 16 win over Norfolk State's Petr Krakora, 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5) before falling in the quarterfinals, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (5) to John Snead of James Madison.
Senior Nate Grover (Suffolk, Va.) fell in the opening round of the flight A singles bracket suffering a 7-6 (5), 7-5 loss to Richmond's Chirs Louis. In the first round of the consolation bracket, Grover fell 8-5 to Liberty's Chad Simpson.
In the flight A doubles bracket, Souza and Grover teamed up to reach the finals. They earned an 8-4 win over Billy Almeyda/Wojceich Stucjlik of Queens College in the semifinals before falling 8-2 to the Norfolk State duo of Petr Krakora/Miroslav Vicek in the finale.
The Monarch men's tennis team returns to action the weekend of September 29 for the Hall Automotive Scholarship Tennis Tournament followed by the ITA Men's Tennis All-American Tournament.
Flight A Singles
Round of 16
Yakov Diskin (ODU) def. Petr Krakora (NSU):4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
Chris Louis (UR) def. Nate Grover (ODU):7-6 (5), 7-5
Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. Bobby McNally (UR):6-3, 6-1
Quarterfinals
John Snead (JMU) def. Yakov Diskin (ODU):3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (5)
Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. Miroslav Vicek (NSU):6-2, 6-1
Semifinals
Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. Jesse Tarr (JMU):3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (3)
Finals:
Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. Pavel Suchy (NSU):6-2, 6-2
Flight A Singles Consolation
First Round
Chad Simpson (Liberty) def. Nate Grover (ODU):8-5
Flight A Doubles
Semifinals
Rodrigo Souza/Nate Grover (ODU) def. Billy Almeyda/Wojceich Stucjlik (Queens):8-4
Finals
Petr Krakora/Miroslav Vicek (NSU) def. Rodrigo Souza/Nate Grover (ODU): 8-2