Host of Firebirds Reach Quarterfinals at ITA East Regional Championship Tournament
PHILADELPHIA – Two doubles pairs and one singles player from the University of the District of Columbia Men's Tennis team advanced to their respective quarterfinal rounds to highlight the Firebirds' performance at this weekend's ITA East Regional Tournament in Philadelphia.
Senior Carlos Quiroga (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Maria Montessori) advanced to the Men's B Singles quarterfinals and the doubles teams of Simon Andersson and Simon Jackermeier and Miguel Uzcategui and Ike Kiro both advanced to the Men's A Doubles quarterfinals.
After receiving a first round bye, Quiroga cruised past Post's Ryan Moffat (8-2) and Phliadelphia University's Chris Casamassima (8-1) to reach the quarterfinal round. There he was bested, 8-2 by Southern New Hampshire's Alex Mukdaprokorn.
In Men's A Singles, Uzcategui (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and Jackermeier (Business Management – Munich, Germany/Theresien-Gymnasium Munich) both advanced to the round of 16. Uzcategui, ranked No. 10 in the region, earned a first round bye and then completed a 6-7 (5), 6-0, 10-5 comeback win over NYIT's Mircea Dimofte. He was outlasted, 6-4, 6-3 by the No. 7 ranked Juuso Ojanen of Concordia in the round of 16. Jackermeier also earned a first round bye and then went on to best Bentley's Kamil Pilch, 6-2, 6-1 before falling to No. 2, Benes Majauskas (Concordia), 6-2, 7-5.
Senior Ike Kiro (Business Management – Milnerton Ridge, South Africa/Milnerton HS) won his first round matchup over USciences' David Kazakevich, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5, but ran into No. 9 Miguel Belfort of Merrimack in the 2nd round and fell by a score of 7-5, 6-2.
In Men's A Doubles action, Jackermeier and Andersson defeated a pair from USciences and Chestnut Hill to reach the quarterfinal round, but they ultimately lost to the No. 1 ranked pair from Concordia, Daniele Piludu and Benes Majauskas, 8-3.
Uzcategui and Kiro earned a first round bye and then upset the No. 2 ranked team of Mark Dobek and Mike Wallace (Southern New Hampshire), 8-6 to advance to the quarterfinals. There they would come up short, 8-5 vs. Concordia's Juuso Ojanen and Pulat Babadjanov.