Blacksburg, Va. – Senior Jaan Kononov (Talinn, Estonia) advanced to the third round of the USTA/ITA Regional Championships with a 6-3 6-2 victory over VCU's Philip Mobius on Saturday afternoon at Virginia Tech University.
In addition, two of three UMBC doubles tandems advanced to the Sunday quarterfinals.
Kononov, the No. 3 seed who received a first round bye, will take on Egon Samaai of Liberty.
Kononov combined with classmate Melker Svard (Gothenburg, Sweden) to edge Fifea/Mobius, 8-6. Seniors Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md.) and Alex Drean (Bayonne, France) also used a final game break of serve to defeat VCU's Ishizaka/Lima by the same 8-6 count.
The two Retriever duos would not meet until the doubles finals.
Senior Eliott Loubatie (Paris, France) and junior Biyik Akinshemoyin (Laurel, Md./Reservoir) battled the fifth-seeded duo of Contini/Tessaro of Virginia Tech, but fell, 8-4.
Loubatie was the lone Retriever to win a consolation singles match, edging Justin Herrea, ODU, 6-3, 6-0.
USTA/ITA Regional Championships (Blacksburg, Va.)
Doubles-First Round
Loubatie/Akinshemoyin, UMBC def. Ward/Ferguson, Morgan State, 8-4
Second Round
Loubatie/Akinshemoyin, UMBC def. Matheson/Poynter, Liberty, 8-6
Kononov/Svard, UMBC def. Salinas/Moorehead, JMU, 8-3
Carter/Drean, UMBC def. Caine/Akins, Duquesne, 8-6
Round of 16
Kononov/Svard, UMBC def. Fifea/Mobius, VCU, 8-6
Carter/Drean, UMBC def. Ishizaka/Lima, VCU, 8-6
Contini/Tessaro (5), VT def. Loubatie/Akinshemoyin, UMBC, 8-4
Singles – First Round
Jeremy Field, Morgan State, def. Biyik Akinshemoyin, UMBC, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4
Michael Weindl, ODU def. Melker Svard, UMBC, 6-4, 6-0
Jacob Nicolussi, ODU def. Alex Drean, UMBC, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1
Scott Huang, Wm. & Mary def. Justin Carter, UMBC, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1)
James Aronson, Richmond def. Eliott Loubatie, UMBC, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1
Singles – Second Round
Jaan Kononov, UMBC def. Philip Mobius, VCU, 6-3, 6-2
Singles – Consolation
Loubatie def. Justin Herrea, ODU, 6-3, 6-0
Akinshemoyin def. Andre Fick, St. Joseph's, 6-4, 6-4
Lars de Boer, W&M def. Svard, 6-4, 6-1
Addison Appleby, W&M def. Drean, 6-4, 6-2
Zach Lieb, Penn St. def. Carter, 6-4, 7-6 (10)
