FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's tennis team opened play at the 2024 ITA Southeast Region Championships on Friday, with senior Evan Erb highlighting the day by advancing through two rounds of both the main singles and doubles draws.
 
HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY 1:
Erb went 3-0 in total match play on the day, as he and classmate Will Kistler advanced past ODAC rivals Rafael Rullan and Tudor Vlad of Virginia Wesleyan 8-6 after getting a first-round bye. In singles, Erb, the No. 4 seed, cruised to 8-0 and 8-3 wins to advance to Saturday's Round of 16.
 
Kistler and senior Eli Hirshberg made up the rest of W&L's representation in the main singles draw, and both also won in the Round of 64. Kistler downed Rullan by an 8-5 final, while Hirshberg posted a shutout win over Dickinson's Drew Allen.
 
TOURNAMENT UPDATE:
Alternate draws, such as the B1 doubles and B1, B2 and B3 singles, as well as consolation brackets all featured Generals, but inclement weather throughout the day pushed all non-main draw action to Saturday.
 
UP NEXT:
Erb and Kistler will open day two of the tournament in the Championship Doubles Round of 16 at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, before Erb takes on ninth-seeded Chakor Sankaran Rajendra of Johns Hopkins in the singles Round of 16. Hirshberg, senior James Kurani, sophomores Britton Buckingham, Sanjheev Rao, Heys Parker and first-years Sahil Arora and Ryan Good will all feature in alternate and consolation singles and doubles draws throughout the day as well.
 
WASHINGTON AND LEE DAY ONE RESULTS
Championship Doubles
Round of 64
Evan Erb/Will Kistler [5] (WLU) – BYE
Aron Bursztyn/Mitch Desman (SAL) def. Britton Buckingham/James Kurani (WLU), 7-6 (5)
Nicholas Choo/Max Pogorelov (SWA) def. Eli Hirshberg/Heys Parker (WLU), 6-4
 
Round of 32
Evan Erb/Will Kistler [5] (WLU) def. Rafael Rullan/Tudor Vlad (VWU), 8-6
 
Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 8:00 a.m.
Evan Erb/Will Kistler [5] (WLU) vs. Dylan Blenkiron/Allen Gong [9] (JHU)
 
Consolation Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 8:45 a.m.
Britton Buckingham/James Kurani (WLU) vs. Owen Dyer/Matthew Miller (MUHL)
Eli Hirshberg/Heys Parker (WLU) vs. James Earwood/Diego Romo (CUA)
 
B1 Doubles
Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 8:00 a.m.
Ryan Good/Sanjheev Rao (WLU) vs. Teodor Bortan/Zachary Miano (HAV)
 
Championship Singles
Round of 64
Will Kistler (WLU) def. Rafael Rullan (VWU), 8-5
Evan Erb [4] (WLU) def. Zachary Schrader (LVC), 8-0
Eli Hirshberg (WLU) def. Drew Allen (DC), 8-0
 
Round of 32
Luke Brodsky [5] (FMC) def. Will Kistler (WLU), 8-5
Evan Erb [4] (WLU) def. Will Secord (CMU), 8-3
Rishi Verma [9] (SWA) def. Eli Hirshberg (WLU), 8-1
 
Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 12:00 p.m.
Evan Erb [4] (WLU) vs. Chakor Sankaran Rajendra [9] (JHU)
 
B1 Singles
Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 11:00 a.m.
Heys Parker (WLU) vs. James Smith (CNU)
 
B2 Singles
Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 10:00 a.m.
Sahil Arora (WLU) vs. Pranav Gadiraju (JHU)
Sanjheev Rao (WLU) vs. Matt Scott (UMW)
 
B3 Singles
Round of 16 – Saturday, Sept. 28, 11:00 a.m.
Britton Buckingham (WLU) vs. Mitch Desman (SAL)
James Kurani (WLU) vs. Aidan Miller (SIT)
 

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Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.