Junior Chris Seitz reached the round of 64 in the Atlantic ITA Regional Championships, which took place from last Thursday to Monday at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. 

The Regional Championships’ main draw tournament officially began on Friday, Oct. 17 and started out well for ’Nova, as Seitz defeated Duquesne senior Alex Aleman in two tiebreak sets. 

“Throughout the entire fall season, I had been playing fairly well and was confident in my game,” Seitz said. “I had played against a lot of good opponents from all different schools and I was more confident that I could compete with them. Going into the ITA tournament, I knew Duquesne was a tough team to beat. I had never played against my opponent, so I went into the match feeling relaxed and was just excited to be playing.”

Seitz competed in the third day of the tournament on Saturday, Oct. 19, and was the only Wildcat to remain alive in any of the main draws. He lost 6-3 in the first set, before he fell 6-0 in the second to Old Dominion’s freshman Adam Moundir. 

“The quality of competition was extremely high, so it gives me more confidence knowing that I can compete with top players in the Mid Atlantic area,” Seitz stated. 

Before the main draw of the tournament began, players from different schools, including Villanova, competed in the singles qualifying draw in order to clutch the last eight spots available for the main singles draw. Freshman Matt Phelps and senior Tim Abbracciamento both competed in the qualifying round. Phelps started out strong with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Old Dominion’s freshman David Botti and advanced to the next round. He fell in a tough match to Saint Joseph’s sophomore Tristan Boustany, 7-6, 6-3. Abbracciamento lost his first match by a score of 6-4, 6-2 to George Mason’s senior Joe Hill. 

Four Wildcats competed in the main draw doubles portion of the tournament. The two Villanova doubles teams consisted of Seitz and sophomore Bradley Noyes, as well as Abbracciamento and freshman William Elmore.

Abbracciamento and Elmore then played Duquesne’s senior Mehdi Mekaiou and freshman Andrew Ong and suffered a very close loss, 8-7(6). That meant elimination from the tournament for Abbracciamento and Elmore. 

Seitz and Noyes were able to win their first-round match against senior Hernan Vasconez and sophomore Vineet Naran of Temple University, 8-6. Nonetheless, they fell 8-1 to juniors Amerigo Contini and Andreas Bjerrehus of Virginia Tech in their second round match and were eliminated. 

The matches played at the Regional Championships were the last matches of the Wildcats’ fall season.

The men’s tennis team’s fall season has been marked by several notable tournaments. Most recently the Wildcats competed in the Quinnipiac Invitational. On the final day of the tournament, sophomore Luis Miranda scored four victories before being defeated by Wesleyan’s Lyon 7-5, 6-2. Senior Michael Rosengren was able to make it to the third round of Flight C. The doubles team of Abbracciamento and Elmore reached the second round of Flight A with a 6-1 win over Quinnipiac. Rosengren and senior Joseph Monaldo also reached the second round of Flight B. 

The team had a successful run at the Saint Joseph’s Men’s Tennis Invitational that took place the weekend of Sept. 19 in Philadelphia. Seitz reached the semi-final round in Flight 1, but fell to Nick Bybel of Bucknell in a tight match three set match that ended 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. Freshman Justin Burrus won his semifinal match against Bryan Adams of Bucknell University and reached the final round. 

He dominated Jason Sist of Saint Joseph’s University 6-1, 6-0, winning the flight. Flight 4 was truly a Wildcat event as freshman Alistair Hurry played Miranda in the final. Hurry defeated Drexel’s Vuk Subotic 4-6, 6-3, 10-2, while Miranda won his match with a score of 6-3, 7-5. 

Miranda came out on top in the final in a tough contest ending in two tiebreak sets, 7-6(4), 7-6(5). Burrus/Phelps and senior Mark Miller/Miranda reached the semi-finals of their flights in the doubles tournament. 

The Wildcats started out their season at the fourth Annual Villanova Invitational that took place the weekend of Sept. 14. ’Nova players captured both the main draw championship and the round robin titles.

The men’s tennis team will return to action in the spring.