NORFOLK, Va. – Three ODU men’s tennis players competed in the 2019 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Newport Beach, Cali. Luca Maldoner was in the singles draw and picked up a win over a No. 69 nationally ranked opponent, while doubles tandem Francois Musitelli and Jannik Giesse claimed victory over the No. 9 nationally ranked duo.
“I think we had a great showing,” said ODU head coach Dominik Mueller. “Both Luca and our doubles team picked up highly ranked wins and lost to the 2 and 3 seeds, respectively. As a program we are taking big pride in competing against the best in the country and I believe we did that this tournament. This was a great run to finish our fall semester.”
In the opening round of the singles draw, Maldoner defeated Kareem Allaf of Iowa in straight sets (6-4, 6-2). In the Round of 32, Maldoner fell to Ohio State’s No. 11 John McNally 2-6, 2-6.
After dropping the first set, Musitelli/Giesse picked up a first round victory in the doubles draw, as ODU’s tandem took down Dartmouth’s No. 9 Charlie Broom and David Horneffer 3-6, 6-1, 10-4. In the round of 16, Musitelli/Giesse fell to No. 2 seeded and No. 18 nationally ranked Matej Vocel/Dominik Kellovsky of Oklahoma State (5-7, 4-6).