Kevin Kruzel and
Ammar Wazir won the Black doubles draw, and
Pelle Strandberg and
Francesco Tacconi won the consolation bracket in the Red draw, in competition at the Redbird Invitational over the weekend. Strandberg and Wazir also both went undefeated in singles play.
"We are developing better movement in doubles,"
Hans Neufeld said. "Ammar and Kevin played with great energy in doubles, which led to winning the black division of the tournament. Pelle and Francesco won two out of three matches, losing a tough tiebreaker to to eventual winner of the Red Division.
"The boys competed hard in practice and the effort showed up in the results over the long weekend."
The format featured three draws, with one doubles team from each participating school in each. After doubles play each day, the teams would divide into two singles matchups. Kruzel and Wazir cruised through their draw, defeating Eastern Illinois 8-4, DePaul 8-1, and a mixed team from Belmont and Illinois State 8-4 to win the bracket. Wazir had an undefeated weekend in singles. He regrouped in the third set on Sunday to defeat his counterpart from Belmont 7-5, 2-6, 7-6.
Strandberg and Tacconi lost a nailbiter to DePaul in the opening round, 8-7 (4). They exacted individual revenge by each defeating a Blue Demon in singles play. With wins over Eastern Illinois and Bellarmine, the Flames captured the consolation side of their bracket. They went a combined 5-1 in singles play, with only Tacconi dropping a three-set battle to Bellarmine on the last day of competition.
Gustavo Schwebel and
Anthony Nguyen topped DePaul on Friday, 8-4, in Nguyen's season debut. Each player earned one singles win over the weekend in the White draw.
The invitational was the final competition for UIC until the dual match season begins in January.
