University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Wake Forest Invitational
Five Vols Win to Open WF Tourney
October 10, 2014 | Men's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Five Vols advanced in singles while seniors Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese continued their doubles run Friday to open the Wake Forest Fall Invitational.
Reese and Libietis, junior Bartosz Sawicki and freshman Luis Valero all rallied for three-set victories to open the three-day tournament.
Reese, the top seed in the A1 draw, outlasted Calvin Mark of Navy 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. In the lower half of the draw, freshman Luis Valero advanced with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win against Eastern Carolina's Damien Brenard.
Libietis, seeded first in the A2 draw, beat Radford's Patrick O'Keefe 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Freshman Igor Smelanski nearly joined him in the second round but lost a wire-close match to Rice's Adam Gustafsson 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-5.
Coming off his first career singles title last weekend at Chattanooga, Sawicki continued his winning ways. He beat UNCG's Cameron Smith 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the B1 draw. In the B2 draw, senior Andrew Dromsky needed only two sets to advance 6-4, 6-3 over Anthony Delcore.
In doubles, Libietis and Reese bagged their third national title Monday at the ITA All-American Championships on Monday and kept their winning ways going Friday. The top-ranked pair defeated doubles teams from Navy and Elon to advance to the finals of the A1 draw.
With the wins, Libietis and Reese became the sixth and seventh players in program history to surpass 100 career individual victories. Of their 101 wins, 80 of them have come together, putting them in a tie for second place with John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren (2008-10) for UT career doubles wins as a team.
Dromsky and Smelyanski, 7-2 this year, will play in the A3 doubles consolation final after going 1-1.
Wake Forest Fall Invitational
Friday's Results
Singles
A1 Draw
Round 1
[1] Hunter Reese, Tennessee, def. Calvin Mark, Navy, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Luis Valero, Tennessee, def. Damien Brenard, ECU, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
A2 Draw
Round 1
[1] Mikelis Libietis, Tennessee, def. Patrick O'Keefe, Radford, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Adam Gustafsson, Rice, def. Igor Smelyanski, Tennessee, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-5
B1 Draw
Round 1
Bartosz Sawicki, Tennessee, def. Cameron Smith, UNCG, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
B2 Draw
Round 1
Andrew Dromsky, Tennessee, def. Anthony Delcore, WF, 6-4, 6-3
C2 Draw
Round 1
Zach Zepatero, Davidson, def. Sunay Bhat, Tennessee, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
A1 Draw
Quarterfinal
[1] Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese, Tennessee, def. Mark/Wong, Navy, 8-3
Semifinal
[1] Libietis/Reese, Tennessee, def. Fortmann/Kowalski, Elon, 8-5
A2 Draw
Quarterfinal
Galloway/Poric, Wofford, def. Sunay Bhat/Bartosz Sawicki, Tennessee, 8-5
Consolation
Van der Burgh/Veys, UNCW, def. Bhat/Sawicki, Tennessee, 8-4
A3 Draw
Quarterfinal
Chevallier/Kennedy, Georgia State, def. Dromsky/Smelyanski, Tennessee, 8-4
Consolation
Dromsky/Smelyanski, Tennessee, def. Samaii/Azuero, Liberty, 8-6
