West Lafayette, Ind. - The third-seeded Youngstown State men's tennis team opened play at the Horizon League Championships with a 4-0 win over No. 6 seed Wright State on Friday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
YSU advances to take on No. 2 seed Cleveland State in the semifinals on Saturday. The match is slated for a 3 p.m. start outdoors/6 p.m. indoors. The Guins have won a season-best five straight contests.
The Penguins (12-10) won the doubles point winning two of the three matches and won the first three completed singles contests to sweep the Raiders (13-12).
The Penguins won the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3. At No. 1, Danylo Veremeichuk and Yossi Dahan won 6-4 while Matthew Kritzinger and Bassem El Mekawi won 6-4 at No. 3.
The first Penguin to win his singles match was Dahan at No. 5. Dahan picked up a 6-3, 6-1 victory over WSU's Javier Alvarez de la Villa.
At No. 1, Veremeichuk earned a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Michal Kianicka to give the Guins their second singles win and third point of the dual. Joao Garretto clinched the win for the Guins with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Fernando Nardelli at No. 2 singles.
YSU had leads at No. 3 and No. 5 singles while Alonso Lauz's match was tied at one set apiece.
Youngstown State def. No. 6 Wright State, 4-0
Doubles
No. 1 – Michal Kianicka/Fernando Nardelli (WSU) def. Vasilis Vardakis/Joao Garretto (YSU), 6-0
No. 2 – Danylo Veremeichuk/Yossi Dahan (YSU) def. Marcel Ueltzhoeffer/Param Pun (WSU), 6-4
No. 3 – Bassem Mekawi/Matthew Kritzinger (YSU) def. Javier Alvarez de la Villa/Donovan Cellupica-Towers (WSU), 6-4
Singles
No. 1 – Danylo Veremeichuk (YSU) def. Michal Kianicka (WSU), 6-3, 7-6
No. 2 – Joao Garretto (YSU) def. Fernando Nardelli (WSU), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
No. 3 – Vasilis Vardakis (YSU) vs. Param Pun (WSU), 7-5, 6-6, unfinished
No. 4 – Bassam Mekawi (YSU) vs. Marcel Ueltzhoeffer (WSU), 7-5, 5-1, unfinished
No. 5 – Yossi Dahan (YSU) def. Javier Alvarez de la Villa (WSU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 – Alonzo Lauz (YSU) vs. Donovan Cellupica-Towers (WSU), 6-4, 3-6, unfinished
