Last weekend, the men’s tennis team kicked off a stretch of fall tournaments by playing in the Northeast Intercollegiate at Brown University. In first singles, junior Martin MacIntyre lost in the first round, but won two matches in the consolation bracket. Sophomore John Nogueras matched MacIntyre’s effort by winning two consolation matches in second singles, including a hard-fought victory over Niagara’s Alex Abji, 4-6, 6-3,13-11. Sophomore Michael Yassky reached the quarterfinal round of the third singles, as did senior Tyler Deck in fourth singles. First-year Ruslan Goussiantnikov lost all three matches in fifth singles, but he does win the award for having the best name at Colgate University. First-years Reid Kiyabu and James Pellechi won their first collegiate matches by emerging victorious in the first round of the sixth and seventh singles flights, respectively.

Unfortunately, Colgate did not fare well in the doubles flights, as none of the four Colgate pairs won a match in the regulation bracket. However, senior Sam Jacobsen and Kiyabu took two matches in the third flight consolation bracket.

The women’s tennis team played in the Army Invitational, its second fall tournament of the year. Sophomore Elise DeRose, in a mirror image of MacIntyre’s draw, lost one match and won two consolation contests in first singles. Classmate Samantha Inacker reached the finals of the second flight consolation bracket after blowing out her first opponent and gutting out two close victories, but she lost to Tanja Vucetic of Brown, 8-2. Junior Erin Fenn and sophomore Cameron Williams won a consolation match each in the third and fourth singles, respectively.

Colgate’s MVP of the day was undoubtedly sophomore Jackie Stimmel. She won 16 of 18 sets (both matches were 8-1 in Stimmel’s favor) in demolishing both of her opponents in the fifth singles consolation bracket. First-year Stephanie Bender won a match in fifth singles consolation as well.

Like the men’s side, Colgate was unable to obtain victory in the doubles flights.

Men’s tennis will look to defend its 2006 ECAC South title in Bethlehem next weekend, while women’s tennis will prepare for the Binghamton Invitational on September 29th and 30th.