TULSA, Okla. - Members of the Saint Joseph's men's tennis team took part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's All-American Championships on Saturday, hosted by the University of Tulsa.

Nathan Perrone, Alp Sentay, and Nickolas Frisk were selected to take part in the Pre-Qualifying Tournament, which began on Saturday morning.  In the Round of 256, Perrone led Huntley Allen of SMU, 6-1, 5-2, when Allen retired. Sentay outlasted North Carolina State's Yannai Barkai, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 10-8 while Frisk got past UNLV's Tom Ciszewski, 3-6, 6-2, 10-3, both in a supertiebreaker.

All three Hawks saw their runs come to an end in the Round of 128, however, as Perrone went down in a supertiebreaker, 2-6, 6-4, 10-7, to George Stoupe, a seeded player from Arizona State, Sentay retired early in his match against Arizona's Carlos Hassey, and Frisk fell to Penn's Kevin Zhu, 6-1, 6-2.

"The guys traveled to the ITA All American Championships this weekend in Tulsa; it is one of the biggest national tournaments of the year," assistant coach Marc Pibernat said.  "This was a great weekend for us and we fought hard to produce wins for each of our players.

"Nate won his first match on Saturday against a player from SMU, and about 2 hours later, Alp produced one of the best wins in SJU tennis history by defeating a player from N.C. State with a 13.2 UTR [Universal Tennis Rating].  Soon to follow, Nicko came back from a set down to comfortably win the next 2 sets and the match against a player from UNLV.

"After a short rest all three men had to go back into battle. Nate lost a heartbreaker against a strong player from Arizona State while Alp, still feeling the effects of his previous match that lasted over two and a half hours, had to retire a few games into the first set due to cramping.  Nicko fought hard but ended up falling to Penn's number-one player.

"I was extremely proud of how the guys performed in every match. It is remarkable what these three young men did and I am so proud to represent them as their coach."

The team will return to action at the ITA Regionals in Annapolis, Maryland, in two weeks.

SAINT JOSEPH'S RESULTS

MAIN DRAW

Round of 256
Nickolas Frisk (Saint Joseph's) def. Tom Ciszewski (UNLV), 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 (STB)
Nathan Perrone (SJU) def. Huntley Allen (SMU), 6-1, 5-2, ret.
Alp Sentay (SJU) def. Yannai Barkai (North Carolina State), 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 10-8 (STB)

Round of 128
Kevin Zhu (Penn) def. Frisk (SJU), 6-1, 6-2
George Stoupe (Arizona State) def. Perrone (SJU), 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 (STB)
Carlos Hassey (Arizona) def. Sentay (SJU), 3-0, ret.