TYLER, Texas – At the annual ITA South Central Regional, hosted this year in Tyler, five of the eight St. Mary's University Men's Tennis players won at least one match, while the doubles pair of Nikita Gavrilonoks and Victor Velter knocked out the top-ranked team in the region in the second round.
 
Gavrilonoks (Riga, Latvia) and Velter (Perpignan, France), both sophomores, found another gear in the tiebreaker, taking out Trevor Short and Samuel Antwi from host, UT Tyler 8-7 (7-2) before dropping a closely contested match to sixth-ranked Lukas Holub and Abubakari Yakubu Lea from Cameron, 8-6.
 
Fellow sophomore Ollie Eriksson (Austin, Texas) reached the round of 16 before falling to No. 3 Malo Poulesquen from UT Tyler. He won in straight sets over Job Japelj in the round of 64, and outlasted Midwestern State's Rynard van der Laan in the round of 32, winning 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, [10-2].
 
"Ollie was the lone Rattler to make it to day two in the main singles draw," said assistant coach Dakota Fernandez. "It was great to see him elevate his game from last weekend. Nikita and Victor had a nice win over the top seed, but they couldn't maintain their consistency, unfortunately. Overall, we did a little better than last year at this event, but certainly fell short of our goals. There are quite a few things each player needs to focus on for the remainder of the semester to get ready for the spring."
 
Diego Alvarez (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and Gavrilonoks also won their first-round matches, with Alvarez winning in a tiebreak set over No. 9 Antonio Pankowski from UT Dallas, 6-3, 4-6, [10-7], while Gavrilonoks dropped only two games in a straight-sets sweep over Jack Franklin from Midwestern State.
 
The Rattlers will host the annual Alumni Match on Halloween at 10 a.m., and the next morning will host the Pro/Am Doubles tournament, where current Rattlers will be paired with fans and local players in a tournament fundraiser.
 
SINGLES
Diego Alvarez (1-1)
Round of 64: def. #9 Antoni Pankowski, UTD 6-3, 4-6, [10-7]
Round of 32: lost to Martin Salvador Pages, MSU 2-6, 3-6
 
Lincoln Baldonado (1-2)
Round of 64: lost to Arthur Schmitkel, UTT 6-4, 4-6, [5-10]
Consolation Round of 32: def. Ayden Fraire, LCU 6-4, 6-4
Cons. Round of 16: lost to Tom Debonne, CU  6-7 (3-7), 6-1, [8-10]
 
Ollie Eriksson (2-1)
Round of 64: def. Job Japelj, UTT 6-3, 6-2
Round of 32: def. Rynard van der Laan, MSU 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, [10-2]
Round of 16: lost to #3 Malo Poulesquen, UTT 1-6, 1-6
 
Leonardo Fabbri (0-2)
Round of 64: lost to Marc Sampol Valverde, MSU 6-1, 3-6, [3-10]
Consolation Round of 32: lost to Philipp Gaurieder, UTPB, W/O (inj)
 
Nikita Gavrilonoks (1-1)
Round of 64: def. Jack Franklin, MSU 6-1, 6-1
Round of 32: lost to #6 Nehal Naidoo, UTPB 3-6, 7-5, [5-10]
 
Prateek Singla (0-2)
Round of 64: lost to #16 Martin Despodov, UTT 6-3, 4-6, [5-10]
Consolation Round of 32: lost to Zoheir Fardoun, CU 2-6, 5-7
 
Florian Smalto (1-2)
Round of 64: lost to #5 Marco Seccia, LCU 6-7 (5-7), 2-6
Consolation Round of 32: def. Gautam Panguluri, UTD 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
Cons. Round of 16: lost to Benjamin Vriends, WNMU 5-7, 4-6
 
Victor Velter (0-2)
Round of 64: received a bye
Round of 32: lost to #4 Bruno Sanchez, MSU 6-1, 6-2
Consolation Round of 16: lost to Markuss Meidrops, WNMU4-6, 4-6
 
DOUBLES
Alvarez and Eriksson (0-2)
Round of 32: lost to Lucas Nakasoto and Andrew Hunsley, UTPB 6-8
Consolation Round of16: lost to Alexander Sulpicy and Matheus Zanellato, UTD 5-8
 
Baldonado and Smalto (1-1)
Round of 32: def. Lennard Goessel and Pol Shifer, CU 8-5
Round of 16: lost to #2 Andrea Rossi Principe and Marco Seccia, LCU 3-8
 
Fabbri and Singla (0-2)
Round of 32: lost to Rynard van der Laan and Jack Franklin, MSU 6-8
Consolation Round of 16: loss to Christian Lopez and Enrique Silveira, UTPB W/O (Inj)
 
Gavrilonoks and Velter (2-1)
Round of 32: def. Markuss Meidrops and David Guta, WNMU 8-4
Round of 16: def. #1 Trevor Short and Samuel Antwi, UTT 8-7 (7-2)
Quarterfinals: lost to #6 Lukas Holub and Abubakari Yakubu Lea, CU 6-8