The Valparaiso University men’s tennis team enjoyed success up and down the lineup over the course of this weekend’s Valpo Fall Invitational, held at the Valpo Tennis Complex. The Crusaders put together a strong showing on Sunday, winning 14 of their 15 singles matches.

How It Happened

• Junior Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa. / Greater Latrobe) and sophomore Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) began the day by besting DePaul’s Chris Casati and Tamas Zador 6-3 at No. 1 doubles.
• Freshman Nick Marino (Northbrook, Ill. / Glenbrook North) paired with Chicago State’s Rohan Whatley to earn a 7-6(3) victory over Valpo sophomores Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) and Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern).
• Freshman Kweisi Kenyatte (Detroit, Mich. / East English Village Preparatory) and senior Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio / Poland) dropped their match to Chicago State’s Christian Gonzalez and Felix Savard 6-4.
• Sophomore Brian Pecyna (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Homeschooled) and redshirt sophomore Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) fell in their doubles match to DePaul’s Conor O’Meara and Tripp Tuff 6-4.
• In Round 2 of the singles portion, Valpo faced off with Eastern Illinois and prevailed in all eight matches. The first Crusader to finish was Pecyna, who breezed past Trent Reiman 6-1, 6-1.
• The next Valpo player off the court was Gardner, who dispatched the Panthers’ Gage Kingsmith 6-1, 6-2.
• Kenyatte also emerged victorious in his first singles match of the day, defeating Kaisei Kuroki 6-0, 7-5 at No. 2 singles. At No. 8 singles, Brozovich topped Braden Davis 6-0, 6-3.
• Langston defeated Logan Charbonneau 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6, while Marino picked up a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jared Woodson at No. 7. Carvajal was also a winner in the singles dual with the Panthers, topping Grant Reiman 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3.
• The final match of Round 2 singles to finish was No. 1, where Ancona pulled away for a 6-4, 6-3 win.
• The Crusaders continued their success as they faced Wright State in Round 3 of singles. Valpo’s first win in the dual came courtesy of Kenyatte, who topped William Morton 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4.
• Ancona rolled past Fernando Nardelli at No. 2 singles, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-2.
• Pecyna picked up a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Varun Kalaiarasan at No. 6, while Marino dispatched Carlos Estrada 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5.  
• Brozovich topped Javier Alvarez 6-4, 6-4 at No. 8 singles, then Kissell nailed down a competitive 7-5, 7-6(4) victory over Michael Kianicka at No. 1. Kissell’s win was the final Valpo match of the tournament to finish, and proved to be the most entertaining showdown of the day on Sunday.
• Gardner ran into a strong player at No. 3, falling 6-3, 7-5 to Wright State’s Param Pun.

Inside the Matches

• With his doubles win on Sunday, Kissell has 49 for his career. He needs two more to crack Valpo’s Top 10. He stands at 7-2 in doubles on the year.
• Marino went a perfect 3-0 in doubles this weekend to boost his season record to 7-2. He added a 2-0 singles mark to increase his season win total to five.
• Ancona’s pair of wins on Saturday allowed him to up his career total to 30 singles victories. He won all three matches he played this weekend and now stands at 7-2 this season.
• Ancona also enjoyed a flawless doubles weekend to move his season mark to 8-1 in doubles action. He owns the team lead in doubles wins this year and has 20 doubles victories for his career.
• Langston notched a win in his only singles match on Sunday, boosting his season total to six victories. Carvajal also won his only singles match of the day, increasing his 2017 total to six wins as well.
• Kenyatte’s picture perfect singles weekend puts the rookie’s record at 8-1 this fall.
• With his pair of singles victories on Sunday, Pecyna stands at 7-2 on the year and has 19 career wins.
• Brozovich garnered a pair of victories on Sunday, increasing his season total to seven and his career win amount to 18.
• Kissell grabbed his 54^th career singles win, which ranks 10^th in program history.

Next Up

The ITA Midwest Regional Championships will begin on Oct. 19 and run through Monday, Oct. 23 in Ann Arbor, Mich.