Sept. 24, 2010

MERION STATION, Pa. - The second annual Saint Joseph's Fall Invitational got underway on Friday as four pairs from SJU took to the courts in doubles competition. Sophomore Tommy Gates and freshman Paranjay Malhotra played their way into the semifinals of the second doubles flight with a 9-8 (4) victory over Mehdi Rhazali and Jeganathan Srinivasan from Drexel.

Also competing in the second flight were freshmen Dan Barrus and Joey Robinson, who fell to Harveer Bhalla and Jason Rothstein of Monmouth, 8-4, in the quarterfinals. The Hawk pair moved on to the consolation bracket, where they were topped by Jeff Marshall and Nick Piacente of Delaware, 8-6.

Participating in the top flight for the Hawks, juniors Peter Cognetti and Jeff Kessler dropped an 8-6 result to Drexel's Skyler Davis and Bryan Nguyen before defeating Justin Haar and Will Mercorella of Lafayette, 8-5 in the first consolation match.

Sophomore Alex Veronis and junior Paul Ganev teamed up in the first flight as well, dropping their first round match, 8-3, to Courtney Scott and Chris Hincker of Delaware. The pair then blazed into the semifinals of the consolation bracket, taking down Adam Duprat and Gaulthier Berret of UMBC, 8-6, and the mixed pairing of Dmitry Bury (Penn) and Evan Kowalski (Army), 8-6.

Singles play will commence in all four flights on Saturday morning, and doubles play will continue on Saturday afternoon. The tournament runs through Sunday.