Three Valparaiso University men’s tennis players won championships in their singles flights at this weekend’s River Forest Invitational. Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian), Brian Pecyna (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Homeschooled) and Kweisi Kenyatte (Detroit, Mich. / East English Village Preparatory) all started their seasons in the best way possible, winning all three singles matches they played this weekend.  

How It Happened

• Ancona won the first singles flight, rolling to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Youngstown State’s Danylo Veremeichuk.
• Valpo also took the No. 2 singles championship with Pecyna prevailing 7-5, 6-4 over Northern Illinois’ Eric Marbach in the final.
• A straight-set win at No. 4 singles allowed Kenyatte to close out a perfect season-opening invitational. He beat Pavel Badaiants of Saint Louis 6-3, 7-5.
• Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) was also victorious on Sunday, rolling to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Shaddy Khalafallah of Marquette for fifth place in the No. 6 singles bracket.
• At fifth singles, Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) dropped his championship match to Detroit Mercy’s Alvaro Arce 3-6, 7-5, 10-8.
• Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) fell in his fifth-place match to Youngstown State’s Vasileios Vardakis 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 in the No. 3 singles draw.
• At No. 7 singles, Nick Marino (Northbrook, Ill. / Glenbrook North) dropped his final match of the weekend 6-4, 7-5 to William Wale of UIC.

Inside The Match

• Langston surpassed the 25-win milestone this weekend, as he has now won 26 career singles matches.
• Ancona is creeping up on the 50-win mark as he sits at 41 following Sunday’s victory.
• Pecyna needs just one more win to achieve 25 for his career.
• Kenyatte is up to 23 career singles wins with one event played in his sophomore season.

Next Up

Valpo hits the road again this coming weekend, heading to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take part in the Western Michigan Invitational, which runs Friday through Sunday.