FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – A total of five different Washington and Lee men's tennis players went unbeaten in the championship brackets to open up the ITA Southeast Regional Tournament on Friday.
 
HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY 1:
Two doubles teams navigated their way through the first day of the championship bracket unscathed. Juniors Evan Erb and Eli Hirshberg opened in the Round of 32 after a first-round bye with an 8-3 win over Tadeo Asprella and Unai Laguardia Alvarez of Goucher. Senior Josh Rassin and first-year Heys Parker also got a first-round bye, and then fended off Haverford's Adam Chow and Justin Minerva, 8-7 (7-4), in the Round of 32.
 
In singles play, Erb and junior James Kurani made it out of the Round of 64 of the championship draw with straight-set wins. Erb cruised, 6-2, 6-1, over Sebastian Wroe of Stevens, while Kurani fought off Unai Laguardia Alvarez, 7-5, in the first set before claiming the second, 6-1. Erb then blanked Nicolas Stromberg of Marymount (Va.), 6-0, 6-0, while Kurani needed a 10-7 third-set tiebreak win over Stefan Johnson of Haverford to secure a spot in the Round of 16, after both players claimed a prior set each, 6-4.
 
In the B1 doubles draw, sophomore Jake Vo teamed up with first-year Sanjheev Rao for a comfortable 8-2 win in the Round of 16 over Stevenson's Larry Johnson III and Simeon Smith. They then advanced to Saturday's semifinal match with an 8-4 victory over Taylor Fox and Henry Singleton of Hampden-Sydney. The championship match will be played Saturday morning as well, should Rao and Vo advance past the semis.
 
Rao and Vo also made their way through alternate singles brackets and will play Saturday in semifinal matches. Rao is in the B1 singles draw this weekend, where he defeated Evan Fisher of Mary Washington, 8-2, before an 8-5 victory came over Jaeden Mukkaladyil of conference-foe Averett. Vo used successive 8-4 and 8-5 wins in the B2 bracket to get to the semifinals, also downing a conference counterpart in the quarterfinals in Virginia Wesleyan's Hubert Parawa.
 
UP NEXT:
Doubles play will continue on Saturday at 8:00 a.m., followed by the singles Round of 16 at 11:00 a.m. Complete W&L results from day one, as well as all W&L Saturday matchups, are listed below.
 
Championship Singles
East – Round of 64
Hanyu Liu (JHU) def. Heys Parker (WLU), 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-6)
Rishi Charan Shankar (UMW) def. Connor Coleman (WLU), 6-2, 6-3
Nicholas Wernink (CMU) def. Eli Hirshberg (WLU), 6-4, 6-2
James Kurani (WLU) def. Unai Laguardia Alvarez (GOU), 7-5, 6-1
Evan Erb (WLU) def. Sebastian Wroe (SIT), 6-2, 6-1
 
East – Round of 32
James Kurani (WLU) def. Stefan Johnson (HAV), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Evan Erb (WLU) def. Nicolas Stromberg (MU), 6-0, 6-0
 
East – Round of 16 (Sat., 11:00 a.m.)
James Kurani (WLU) vs. Max Lindstrom (SWA)
Evan Erb (WLU) vs. Pranav Gadiraju (JHU)
 
West – Round of 32 (Sat., 11:00 a.m.)
Heys Parker (WLU) vs. Ashton Legum (CNU)
Connor Coleman (WLU) vs. Lars Jespersen (URS)
Eli Hirshberg vs. Artem Babaiev (SU)
 
B1 Singles
Round of 16
Sanjheev Rao (WLU) def. Evan Fisher (UMW), 8-2
 
Quarterfinals
Sanjheev Rao (WLU) def. Jaeden Mukkaladyil (AU), 8-5
 
Semifinals (Sat., 12:00 p.m.)
Sanjheev Rao (WLU) vs. Jonathan Gu (CMU)
 
B2 Singles
Round of 16
Jake Vo (WLU) def. Angelo Guzman (WIL), 8-4
 
Quarterfinals
Jake Vo (WLU) def. Hubert Parawa (VWU), 8-5
 
Semifinals (Sat., 11:00 a.m.)
Jake Vo (WLU) vs. Andrew Cooper (UMW)
 
Championship Doubles
Round of 64
Evan Erb/Eli Hirshberg (WLU) – BYE
Alex Donnelly/Aliaksandr Rudy (AU) def. Connor Coleman/James Kurani (WLU), 8-6
Heys Parker/Josh Rassin (WLU) – BYE
 
Round of 32
Evan Erb/Eli Hirshberg (WLU) def. Tadeo Asprella/Unai Laguardia Alvarez (GOU), 8-3
Heys Parker/Josh Rassin (WLU) def. Adam Chow/Justin Minerva (HAV), 8-7 (7-4)
 
Round of 16 (Sat., 8:00 a.m.)
Evan Erb/Eli Hirshberg (WLU) vs. Zac Ashtiani/Gonzalo Gentou (F&M)
Heys Parker/Josh Rassin (WLU) vs. Ashton Legum/Edvard Porsmyr Hansen (CNU)
 
B1 Doubles
Round of 16
Sanjheev Rao/Jake Vo (WLU) def. Larry Johnson III/Simeon Smith (STE), 8-2
 
Quarterfinals
Sanjheev Rao/Jake Vo (WLU) def. Taylor Fox/Henry Singleton (HSC), 8-4
 
Semifinals (Sat., 8:00 a.m.)
Sanjheev Rao/Jake Vo (WLU) vs. Aron Bursztyn/Russell Willenborg (SAL)
 

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