The Valparaiso University men’s tennis team went 6-3 in singles matches on Saturday, closing out a strong weekend of play at the Rocket Invitational hosted at the University of Toledo. The team combined to go 13-5 in singles on Friday and Saturday. Senior Brandon Ancona has (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) entered the Top 10 in program history in career doubles wins.

How It Happened

• Valpo took two of three singles matches against Wayne State with Ancona and Brian Pecyna (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Homeschooled) winning at the top two spots in straight-set fashion. Ancona topped Max Rink 6-4, 6-3, while Pecyna garnered a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Dom Spincer.
• The only setback to Wayne State in singles came in a tight match as senior Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) dropped a three-set affair to Luke Laws 6-4, 2-6, 10-8.
• Against the host Rockets, Valpo ran the table in three singles matches. Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) came back from a set down to beat Thawin Suksathaporn 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-5, continuing his flawless weekend.  
• Freshman Philipp Leithold (Esslingen, Germany / Theodor-Huess Gynasium) topped Cole Shoults of Toledo 6-2, 7-6(3), while Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) defeated Nikola Arsic 7-5, 3-6, 10-4 in a match that needed a third-set tiebreak to decide.  
• Ancona made it a 2-0 day by notching a 7-5, 7-5 win over Youngstown State’s Laurentiu Mandocescu.
• Freshman Andrej Kalenic (Belgrade, Serbia / Kreativno Pero) and Brozovich lost third-set tiebreaks in tight matches with Chicago State.
• Valpo also had a winning day in doubles, going 3-2. The most noteworthy match of the day was a wild, tightly-contested affair between Carvajal/Kalenic of Valpo and Skaer/Wetoszka of Toledo that saw Valpo drop Set 1 6-4 before winning Set 2 6-2. That set up a lengthy third-set tiebreak that saw the Toledo tandem nail down a 19-17 win.
• Ancona/Pecyna (over Toledo) and Pecyna/Carvajal (over Chicago State) picked up straight-set wins, while Leithold/Langston outdid a Penguin pair in another thriller, 6-2, 6-7(2), 10-7.

Inside the Match

• Ancona grabbed two singles wins on Saturday to take over sole possession of the team lead with five. Carvajal, Langston, Leithold and Pecyna have four apiece.
• Ancona and Pecyna are 4-0 in doubles play as a duo so far on the year. Pecyna leads the team with a 6-0 doubles mark.
• Ancona is up to 66 career singles wins and 54 doubles victories. His singles win total places him ninth in program history, three shy of a tie for seventh. His doubles triumph on Saturday allowed him to climb into the Top 5 in that area as well, as he now ranks tied for 10^th in program history with Nic Kooyers (2003-2007).
• Langston had a winning weekend, going a combined 4-0 including three wins in singles play and one in doubles action.
• After both losing their first singles match of the season, Pecyna (4-0) and Ancona (5-0) have responded by putting together undefeated runs of singles play.

Up Next

Next weekend, the men’s tennis program will hold its annual Alumni Tournament at 3 p.m. on Homecoming Saturday at the Valpo Tennis Complex.