VILLANOVA, Pa. – Tennis season got underway this weekend as members of the Saint Joseph's men's tennis team took part in the Villanova Invitational.
 
Each matchup was contested in a modified best-of-three format consisting of a doubles match and two singles matches.  The event was conducted across two brackets, with the Hawks claiming eighth place in each draw.
 
In the Blue Draw, Eshan Kanetkar and Nathan Perrone topped a duo from Lehigh in the first round to move on to the quarterfinals, where they fell to a pairing from Johns Hopkins.  Kanetkar and Perrone ultimately finished in eighth place in the Blue Draw, while Nickolas Frisk and Alp Sentay suffered a first-round defeat to another pair from JHU.
 
Nassim Fenjiro and Alex MacNeil competed in the White Draw, getting past a duo from Hopkins before falling to a pair from Lehigh in the quarterfinals.  The two Hawks eventually placed eighth in the bracket.
 
"It was the first competition of the year and, as in previous years, is not where overall we display our best tennis," assistant coach Marc Pibernat said.  "The lack of tennis during the summer in some of the squad definitely always shows when it comes to the first tournament of the fall, but is a good way to see where everyone stands in the beginning of the year and what needs to be worked on in order to improve.  We are looking forward to going down to Annapolis this weekend to compete in the Navy Invitational."
 
The Navy Invitational is set for Friday, September 17, through Sunday, September 19.
 
RESULTS
 
Blue Draw
Matt Kleiman / Jeremy Learner (Lehigh) def. Eshan Kanetkar / Nathan Perrone (SJU), 6-4
Perrone def. Kleiman, 6-3, 6-1
Kanetkar def. Learner, 6-2, 6-2
Saint Joseph's wins, 2-1
 
Daniel Ardila / Rohan Reddy (Johns Hopkins) def. Kanetkar/Perrone (SJU), 6-4
Reddy def. Perrone via walkover
Ardila def. Kanetkar, 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 (STB)
Johns Hopkins wins, 3-0
 
James Yu / Thomas Yu (Johns Hopkins) def. Nickolas Frisk / Alp Sentay (SJU), 7-5
Frisk def. T. Yu, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
J. Yu def. Sentay, 2-6, 6-3, 12-10 (STB)
Johns Hopkins wins, 2-1
 
White Draw
Nassim Fenjiro / Alex MacNeil (SJU) def. Alex Kernagis / Andrew Tran (Johns Hopkins), 7-5
Fenjiro def. Tran, 6-0, 6-3
Kernagis def. MacNeil, 8-6
Saint Joseph's wins, 2-1
 
Michael Bukhalo / Jordan Paul (Lehigh) def. Fenjiro/MacNeil (SJU), 6-4
Paul def. Fenjiro via walkover
Bukhalo def. MacNeil, 6-3, 6-2
Lehigh wins, 3-0