NEW ORLEANS – Freshman
Rui Silva won the 'Flight 3' championship match to highlight the University of New Orleans tennis teams' effort at the Big Easy Classic on Sunday at the University Tennis Center.
Silva rolled Nicholls State's Siddarth Sivakumar 6-3, 6-1 to claim the championship of the third singles' flight. Silva's win clinched the men's team championship for UNO, which scored 56 points to defeat NSU by 15 points.
Adding to the Privateers' first-place haul were three victories in consolation finals.
Senior
Kristina Martic won the 'Flight 2' consolation championship with a 6-4, 6-4 result over Xavier's Kourtney Howell. Senior
Hossam Meligy also was victorious in the men's version of the 'Flight 2' consolation bracket with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jamie Eccleton of NSU.
Later in the day, freshman
Lovro Curcija rounded out the consolation titles by taking 'Flight 3' with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of teammate
Guillermo Aylon.
In addition to Aylon, UNO student-athletes Soledad Arroyo,
Ricardo Campos,
Vinay Kamineni and Meligy added second-place finishes to the Privateers' record on the weekend.
Kamineni was defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Blake Gregor in the finals of 'Flight 2' while Arroyo fell in straight sets to Alcorn State's Victoria Kozachuk in the 'Flight 2' consolation championship event.
Campos and Meligy rounded out the second-place finishes with an 8-6 loss to Cody Hall and Daniel Leitnar in the doubles' championship. The 2012 ITA All-Americans had previously defeated Shayann Vazzadeh and Gregor 8-6 in a semifinal match.
Southern Illinois won the women's team championship 44-43 over Troy. SIU did not clinch the team title until the final match of the day, a women's doubles' final in which its top squad defeated a Trojans' duo. UNO finished tied for third with Nicholls at 24 points in the women's team standings.
The Privateer men's tennis team will return to action next weekend in the Southern Miss Fall Invitational while the UNO women's team resumes their 2012 fall slate at the Northwestern State Lady Demon Invite which begins Oct. 12.
FINAL TEAM SCORES – MEN
New Orleans 56, Nicholls 41, South Alabama 34, Tulane 9, Xavier 7, Alcorn 7, Loyola 4
FINAL TEAM SCORES - WOMEN
Southern Illinois 44, Troy 43, Nicholls 24, New Orleans 24, McNeese 16, Alcorn 14, Xavier 12, Loyola 7
SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
Men's Singles' Flight 1 Championship
Daniel Leitnar (USA) def. Shayann Vaezzadeh (USA) 7-6 (5), 6-2
Men's Singles Flight 2 Championship
Blake Gregor (USA) def.
Vinay Kamineni (UNO) 6-3, 6-3
Men's Singles Flight 3 Championship
Rui Silva (UNO) def. Siddarth Sivakumar (NSU) 6-3, 6-1
Men's Doubles Semifinals
Campos/Meligy (UNO) def. Vazzadeh/Gregor (USA) 8-6
Hall/Leitnar (USA) def. Kamineni/Zaki (UNO) 8-3
Men's Doubles Championship
Hall/Leitnar (USA) def. Campos/Meligy (UNO) 8-6
Men's Singles Flight 2 Consolation Championship
Hossam Meligy (UNO) def. Jamie Eccleton (NSU) 6-4, 6-4
Men's Singles Flight 3 Consolation Semifinals
Lovro Curcija (UNO) def. Evan Karatzas (NSU) 6-4, 6-7, 2-0, ret.
Men's Singles Flight 3 Consolation Championship
Lovro Curcija (UNO) def.
Guillermo Aylon (UNO) 6-0, 6-3
Men's Doubles Consolation Semifinals
Karatzas/Mertens (NSU) def. Hellmich/Kirmse (USA) 8-3
Eccelton/Russell (NSU) def. Knight/Noblecourt (NSU), walkover
Men's Doubles Consolation Championship
Karatzas/Mertens (NSU) def. Eccelton/Russell (NSU), walkover
Women's Singles Flight 1 Championship
Parija Maloo (NSU) def. Melanie Delsart (SIU) 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-4
Women's Singles Flight 2 Championship
Candela Munoz-Giron (Troy) def. Marie Aubert (NSU) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Women's Singles Flight 3 Championship
Anja Cosovic (Troy) def. Diana Pirciu (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
Women's Doubles Semifinals
Vega/Giron (Troy) def. Tomashima/Dien (SIU) 8-4
Delsart/Simons (SIU) def. Benincasa/Sans (UNO) 8-3
Women's Doubles Championship
Delsart/Simons (SIU) def. Vega/Giron (Troy) 8-5
Womens's Singles Flight 1 Consolation Semifinals
Kourtney Howell (XULA) def. Meghan Debaroncelli (LU) 5-7, 7-6, 6-0
Womens's Singles Flight 1 Consolation Championship
Kristina Martic (UNO) def. Kourtney Howell (XULA) 6-4, 6-4
Women's Singles Flight 2 Consolation Championship
Victoria Kozachuk (ASU) def. Soledad Arroyo (UNO) 6-4, 7-6 (1)
Women's Singles Flight 3 Consolation Championship
Abigail Plecki (SIU) def. Patricia Normand (ASU) 2-6, 6-0, 6-1
Women's Doubles Consolation Semifinals
Cosovic/Durden (Troy) def. Goody/West (XULA) 8-0
Women's Doubles Consolation Championship
Cosovic/Durden (Troy) def. Plecki/Cairo-Baza (SIU) 8-6
