The top Valparaiso University men’s tennis doubles duo picked up a first-round win, highlighting the first day of doubles action on Friday at the ITA Midwest Regional hosted by Notre Dame. Valpo’s Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) and Kweisi Kenyatte (Detroit, Mich. / East English Village Preparatory) continued their strong fall with an opening-round victory.

How It Happened

• Ancona and Kenyatte led the way for Valpo with a Round 1 win over Chicago State’s Martinez/Savard in an 8-5 match.
• The Valpo duo incurred an 8-4 defeat to Joyce/Tubert of Ohio State in Round 2.
• Valpo had two other doubles teams participate in the event. Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) and Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) fell to Gota/Griffin of host Notre Dame in a close 8-7 match. Elsewhere, Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) and Brian Pecyna (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Homeschooled) came up shy in their match against Youngstown State’s Garreto/Veremeichuk by a score of 8-4.

Inside the Matches

• Ancona and Kenyatte picked up their 10^th win as a pair this fall. Their loss to Ohio State marked just the second defeat of the season for the top Valpo doubles duo.
• The setback, which snapped a five-match winning streak, came against quality competition as Ohio State’s Martin Joyce was a 2018 Doubles All-American and Second Team All-Big Ten performer who was named to the 2018 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team. Hunter Tubert was also a member of the 2018 NCAA All-Tournament Team and was a 2017 Big Ten Doubles Champion.
• Ancona is up to 41 career doubles wins, while Kenyatte has 25 in only his second season on campus.

Next Up

The ITA Midwest Regional will continue on Saturday with a pair of Valpo individuals slated to compete in main draw singles. Ancona will face off with Notre Dame’s Guillermo Cabrera, while Kenyatte will match up with Notre Dame’s William Howell.