Ota Right At Home Against Division I Competition At Loyola Men's Tennis Invitational
BALTIMORE, Md. – Reigning Landmark Conference Player of Year Tetsuya Ota (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Saddlebrook Prep) went 3-1 against NCAA Division I competition and went 2-2 in doubles play with partner Omosesan Adebamgbe (Philadelphia, Pa./Lower Merion) to finish sixth for Goucher College at the Loyola Men's Tennis Invitational over the weekend. The Gophers and Johns Hopkins were the only two NCAA Division III schools at the event and were joined by NCAA Division I teams Loyola, Mount St. Mary's and Morgan State.
Ota won his first three singles matches, winning his opening match against Mount St. Mary's 6-1, 6-4 and defeated a Loyola player 6-1, 6-2 before defeating another Loyola player 7-6 (6-1), 7-6 (6-2). The junior lost his final match to the Mount 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Ota and Adebamgbe won their opening doubles match combined with Ota's singles win to advance in the winners bracket, but then lost its quarterfinals double match 6-4 to Loyola. The duo then won its doubles match against Loyola before dropping a 6-2 double match against Mount St. Mary's to finish in sixth place.
Seniors Michael Herman (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Nova Porg) and Frankie Mullinix (Washington, D.C./The George School) teamed up to go 3-1 in doubles while Herman went 2-2 in singles play. The duo won its opening doubles match against Loyola 6-4, but lost both singles to move into the consolation quarterfinals where they won the tandem match against the Mount and moved onto the consolation semifinals. The duo lost its only doubles match 7-5 against Morgan State before defeating Mount St. Mary's 6-4 to place 12th.
In singles play, Herman lost a tough opening match against Loyola 4-6, 6-0, 10-6 and then won 6-2, 6-3 against the Mount. Herman won the first set 6-4 against Morgan State before he won the match after his opponent stopped playing due to an injury. The senior wrapped up his tournament with a 6-0, 7-6 (6-3) loss to the Mount.
Mullinix picked up a win due to a Morgan State injury, but lost against Loyola 7-5, 6-4, the Mount 6-4, 6-4 and the Mount 6-4, 6-3.
Adebamgbe lost 6-0, 6-3 against Mount St. Mary's and 6-1, 6-2 in his two singles matches.
Brian Kane (Philadelphia, Pa./Friends Select) was paired with Loyola and lost 6-2 in two doubles matches and earned a 6-4 win in doubles against the Mount and went 2-2 in singles after defeating Morgan State 6-4 in the first set and then he retired due to an injury and then won 6-0, 6-2 in his final match.
Goucher will conclude the fall slate at the ITA South Atlantic Regional Tournament on October 4-6.