Results (PDF)
 
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – George Mason University men's tennis senior Edward Ayers advanced to the Round of 32 in singles to lead the Patriots at the prestigious ITA Regional this past week on the University of Virginia's campus.
 
In addition to Ayers' solid week, senior Jakob Nielsen and freshman Momin Khan won a pair of singles matches to advance to the Round of 64. In all, six Patriots claimed at least one match victory at the event, which brings together the top tennis talent in the Mid-Atlantic.
 
"I'm really impressed with the new additions to our team," head coach Jimmy Davis said. "They've added so much positive energy and have helped us carry over and drive even more momentum from last season. This was one of our better showings at regionals and we picked up some good wins and came close to some big upsets in both singles and doubles as well. Eddie played a tough match in the round of 32 against a highly seeded opponent from ODU, but fell just short in the third set. We're looking forward to practice so we can start focusing on areas of improvement to get ready for a promising spring season."
 
As a top-32 seed, Ayers earned byes into the Round of 64. There, he knocked off Jakub Behun of George Washington in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-2). In the Round of 32, he battled against Old Dominion's Tomislav Podvinski. Ayers won the first set, 6-3, but could not take control in the second and third as Podvinski claimed those frames, 6-2, 6-4.
 
Elsewhere in the singles bracket, Nielsen put together a good week on the court while picking up a pair of victories. In his opening match, the Mississauga, Ontario, product took down Georgetown's Andrew Rozanov in three sets (5-7, 6-2, 6-3). Then in the Round of 128, Nielsen defeated William Barker of Liberty. Nielsen won the first set in a tiebreak, then fell in the second, 6-2. But Nielsen blitzed back in the third to take the frame easily, 6-0. Nielsen ultimately fell to Virginia Tech's Henrik Korsgaard – the tournament's No. 3 overall seed – in the Round of 64.
 
Khan opened his singles week with a pair of straight set wins. He dispatched of Radford's Rodrigo Magalhaes (6-3, 6-2) to open the tournament, then knocked off Morgan State's Shrey Gupta in a tight match (7-6, 7-5). In the Round of 64, Khan fell to the No. 12 seed in the event, Jannick Griesse.
 
Also in singles, freshman Faisal Alrebdi pushed past Stefan Petrovic of James Madison (6-3, 1-6, 7-6). Sophomore Chanasorn Nakaurai also won his first match, defeating Jean Armstrong of Mt. St. Mary's (4-6, 6-4, 6-2). In the Round of 128, Nakaurai put together a great match against Panos Nearchou of ODU, winning the first set, 6-3. After dropping the second set, the third went all the way to a tiebreak, with Nearchou barely sneaking through to the next round.
 
Mason had a pair of duos compete in ITA doubles as well. The strong tandem of junior Ryan Charles and freshman Rithik Sardana opened the tournament with a solid 8-4 triumph over Delaware's Luis Molina and Guilherme Valdoleiros. Then, in the Round of 32, Mason's team faced Liberty's William Barker/Goncalo Ferreira but could claim victory in that match.
 
Nielsen and Alrebdi also played a highly competitive match against Virginia Tech's Chase and Ryan Bernstine. They had a chance to win the match up 7-6, but could not convert, as the Hokies came back to take the set, 9-7.
 
Next up, Mason returns to Fairfax for Alumni Weekend (Nov. 2-3) before wrapping up the fall at the Navy Invitational Nov. 8-10.
 
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