Villanova, PA - The Wagner men's tennis team concluded play on Sunday at the 6th Annual Villanova Invitational, contested on the Villanova University West Campus. 

The tournament style is different than most. The Villanova Invitational is a "two-and-one" format, which includes one doubles match and two, singles matches, per matchup. The team that wins at least two of the three games advances in the main draw of the tournament.  The losing team, on-the-other-hand, moves on to the back draw.  There will be two draws of sixteen and one five-team round robin.

The pairing of sophomore Dale Sandy (Durban, South Africa/Kersney College Secondary School) and newcomer Anatoliy Lashkul (Kiev, Ukraine/High School #78) won its doubles match, 7-5 over Villanova's duo of Dylan Flanagan and Jimmy Purdy.  

In singles action, Sandy dropped a 7-6 (6); 6-4 decision to Flanagan to even the overall series at 1-1.  Lashkul was able to clinch the win for the Seahawks, earning a 6-3; 6-0 victory over Purdy.

Sandy/Lashkul advanced to the semifinals of the Champions Draw where they matched up against Delaware's Tyler Flematti and Laurenz Lankes.  The Blue Hens took the doubles point, 6-4, but the Wagner duo took care of its singles matches, as Sandy defeated Flematti, 7-5; 6-4 while Lashkul was triumphant, 6-1; 6-2 to advance to the finals, awaiting the winner of the Chestnut Hill/Villanova pairing. 

It was a hard-fought championship match between Sandy/Lashkul and Villanova's pair of Tyler Roth and Stefan Suarez. In the end, the Wildcats edged the Seahawks, 2-1, to take home the Champions Draw top honor. Nova took a 6-4 doubles win while Roth defeated Sandy, 6-2; 6-1. Lashkul, who had a strong tournament throughout, defeated Suarez, 7-6 (5); 6-4. 

"Dale and Anatoliy had a great weekend of tennis," commented second-year head coach Jason Sinkoff. " Every round they played went to a 2-1 finish.  The hard work they exhibited in practice, along with their conditioning, really paid off." 

The Seahawks sophomore pairing of Ilya Knepplehout (Woubrugge, Netherlands/Scala College Second School) and Eric Poland (Fort Meyers, FL/Bishop Verot) finished in 11th place after defeating Lafayette's squad of Blake Oslan and Andrew Reed. The Green & White took the doubles point, 6-3, while Poland beat Reed, 6-3; 6-2 to clinch the win.

Wagner claimed 13th as junior Charlton Boyd (Shreveport, LA/Loyola College Prep) and newcomer Hans Ohrner (Margate, FL/Coral Springs Christian Academy) swept the series from Rider. Boyd/Ohrner won the doubles point, 6-2 and Ohrner defeated Matt Begly, 6-3; 6-1 while Boyd cruised to an 8-2 victory over Levi.  

In the Blue Draw, freshman Siddharth Anand (New Delhi, India/Modern School Barakhamba Road) and junior Allen Wang (Clovis, CA/Buchanan) finished in eighth place, after falling to Chestnut Hill.   

The Seahawks embark on a four-match homestand, beginning on September 14 as they welcome local rival, St. Francis Brooklyn, to the Wagner Tennis Courts for a Northeast Conference (NEC) contest.  The match begins at 10:00 a.m.