Oct. 3, 2007

The George Mason men's tennis team participated in the Virginia State Open this past weekend at the Snyder Tennis Center in Charlottesville, Va. The field consisted of three singles and two doubles draws.

Players from ten schools, including nine from the Commonwealth participated, including host Virginia, James Madison, Liberty, Longwood, Radford, Richmond, VCU, William & Mary and Binghamton.

Mason's Brian Fitzgerald lost his opening singles match in the top A Flight singles bracket to Virginia's Meros, 6-2, 6-4. In the consolation round, Fitzgerald lost a hard fought three set battle to Longwood's Heird, 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5. The transfer from VCU found more success in the A Flight Doubles bracket as he and Dan Schneider lost in the semi-finals. The Mason duo defeated the team of Sommer and Farina from Richmond 8-6 in the quarters before losing to the #46 ranked team in the nation of Tarr and Smith from James Madison, 8-3.

Sophomore Stas Budagov lost his two matches in the A-2 Flight singles competition, 6-1, 6-1 to Smith from James Madison and Liberty's Simpson 6-4, 6-0. In B Flight Dan Schneider reached the quarterfinals, defeating Longwood's Lazarte in three sets before losing to top seeded Gullickson of William and Mary in three sets. After losing a first-round match-up with Gullickson, freshman Harwood Hoskins won the B Flight consolation draw. He won three straight matches against Lazarte, Richmond's Farina and Liberty's Schujmann. Mason's Jordan Lipstock lost his two matches in B flight, 6-1, 6-3 to Liberty's Trojan and #3 seeded Brawley, 9-8, from Longwood. Freshman Garrett Bell lost his opening match to Schujmann.

In A Doubles competition, Mason's team of Lipstock and Hoskins lost their two matches in A Flight, 8-0 to William and Mary's team of Zuck and Vidal and to #3 seeded Steyn and Simpson from Liberty. In B Doubles Flight, the Patriots Budagov and Bell lost to teams from Longwood and James Madison.

A-1 SINGLES
First Round: Fitzgerald (Mason) lost to Meros (UVA), 6-2, 6-4
Cons. Qtr: Fitzgerald (Mason) lost to Heird (Longwood), 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5
A-2 SINGLES
First Round: Budagov (Mason) lost to Smith (JMU), 6-1, 6-3
Cons. Qtr: Budagov (Mason) ost to Simpson (Liberty), 6-4, 6-0
B-1 SINGLES
First Round: Hoskins (Mason) lost to Gullickson (WM)
Cons. Qtr.: Hoskins (Mason) def. Lazarte (Longwood), 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Cons. Semi: Hoskins (Mason) def. Farina (Richmond), 6-2, 6-3
Cons. Final: Hoskins (Mason) def. Schujmann (Liberty)

First Round: Schneider (Mason) def. Lazarte, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
Qtrs: Schneider (Mason) lost to Gullickson (WM), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
First Round: Lipstock (Mason) lost to Trojan (Liberty), 6-1, 6-3
Cons. Qtr: Lipstock (Mason) lost to Brawley (Longwood), 9-8
First Round: Bell (Mason) lost to Schujmann (Liberty), 6-1, 6-0
A-DOUBLES
First Round: Fitzgerald/Schneider (Mason)-Bye
Qtrs: Fitzgerald/Schneider (Mason) def. Sommer/Farina (Richmond), 8-6
B-DOUBLES
First Round: Budagov/Bell (Mason) lost to Garcia de Andoain/Mani Barajas-Alexander
Cons. Qtr.: Budagov/Bell (Mason) lost to Campbell/Rubenstein (James Madison), 8-6