Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team played in its fourth ever NCAA Tournament on Saturday, falling in the first round to No. 2 ranked and third-seeded Virginia, 4-0, at the Snyder Tennis Center in Charlottesville, VA.

Competing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008, the Knights conclude their season with a 15-9 record as UVa runs its record to 25-1 and moves onto tomorrow's second round match against VCU at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers picked up the doubles point and three singles matches to earn the sweep on the day.

FDU was able to keep the match competitive at a number of points including No. 2 doubles and No. 1 singles. The story of the day for FDU in singles was freshman Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School) pushing UVa's Jarmere Jenkins, the No. 4 ranked player in America, to the edge before falling 7-6 (7-1) in the first set of an unfinished match. Berzins came within a couple of points of becoming the first Northeast Conference player to win a set in the NCAA Tournament.

“It was great to see a freshman be able to step up on the biggest stage and make an impact against one of the best players in college tennis right now,” FDU Head Coach Ira Miller said.

Beginning with doubles, the Cavaliers jumped on the Knights with wins at No. 1 and 3. The No. 5 ranked doubles team of Jenkins and Drew Courtney took down Berzins and junior Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House) at No. 1 by a score of 8-1. At No. 3 doubles, FDU juniors Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) fell by the same 8-1 score to Mitchell Frank and Alex Domijan.

The Knights' tightest match went unfinished, however, as seniors Dominic Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Marco Jemersic (Zagreb, Croatia/X Gimnazija Ivan Supek) were matching Julen Uriguen and Justin Shane blow-for-blow at No. 2 and were trailing 5-4 when the Cavaliers won the doubles point. For Dominic Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Jemersic, it was their final match in the Burgundy and Blue with Hemy accumulating 32 singles and 38 doubles wins in his career, and Jemersic racking up 41 doubles wins to go with eight singles victories.

“I think that Virginia played great in the doubles, and I'm proud that it didn't intimidate us,” Miller said. “We battled to try to get the momentum back at all of the positions especially at the top of our lineup.”

With the doubles point in hand, UVa added wins at No. 2, 4 and 6 singles for the 4-0 victory. FDU faced four singles players ranked in the top 82 including Domijan, the 39th ranked player in the nation, who was playing No. 2 singles on the day. Domijan was able to navigate past Shams, 6-1, 6-3.

At No. 4 singles, UVa tacked on another win when Courtney took down Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School), 6-1, 6-0, while Uriguen scored a 6-3, 6-0 win over Dominic Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) at No. 6.

Besides Berzins' No. 1 singles match, No. 3 and No. 5 matches also went unfinished. Squaring off with Frank, the second ranked player in the nation and No. 3 singles player for UVa, junior Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim) dropped the first set, 6-1, and was hanging on in the second set down 5-1 when the match ended.

At No. 5, Skvarka faced Shane, the No. 82 player in the nation, falling in the first set, 6-2, and trailing by a 4-0 score in the second set.

After Saturday's performance, Miller is happy with the direction of the program and already looking ahead to next year.

“We've got most everybody back, and we have a lot of good players coming in,” Miller said. “I think we'll be better than ever.”
 
#2 VIRGINIA 4, FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 0

Doubles:
1. #5 Courtney/Jenkins (UVa) def. Berzins/Shams (FDU) 8-1
2. Shane/Uriguen (UVa) led D.Hemy/Jemersic (FDU) 5-4 DNF
3. Domijan/Frank (UVa) def. M.Hemy/Skvarka (FDU) 8-1
 
Singles:
1. #4 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) led Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School) (FDU) 7-6(1), 0-0 DNF
2. #39 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House) (FDU) 6-1, 6-3
3. #2 Mitchell Frank (UVa) led Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim) (FDU) 6-1, 5-1 DNF
4. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) (FDU) 6-1, 6-0
5. #82 Justin Shane (UVa) led Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) (FDU) 6-2, 4-0 DNF
6. Julen Uriguen (UVa) def. Dom Hemy (FDU) 6-3, 6-0
 
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3,1
Singles: 6,2,4