Quinnipiac University
Yale University
Kei Ezaka Advances to Quarterfinals at Connecticut State Championships
9/23/2016 11:50:00 PM | Men's Tennis
New Haven, Conn. – The Quinnipiac men's tennis team had a successful first day of the Connecticut State Championships hosted by Yale University as three doubles teams reached the Round of 16 and senior Kei Ezaka (Ojai, California) reached the Flight "A" quarterfinals. Ezaka led all Bobcats' with four victories on the day to go 4-0 on day one.
The day started with the Flight "A" singles competition, with sophomore Freddie Zaretsky (Fair Lawn, New Jersey) getting it going for the Bobcats. Unfortunately, Zaretsky lost in the first round to Andrew Heller of Yale, 6-1 and 6-0 in straight sets. Freshman Patrick Cachapero (Loma Linda, California) followed with the first win of the day for the Bobcats. Cachapero was able to defeat Yale's Dennis Wang 6-2 and 6-4. Cachapero was unable to secure a second round win however, falling to Brown's Jacob Walker, 6-2 and 6-3 in straight sets.
Ezaka was able to get the Bobcats back on track by winning his first match of the day by beating Mladen Mitak of Brown, 6-0 and 7-6 in a tiebreaker. Ezaka kept the momentum rolling when he defeated Sean Mullins of Boston College in the second round. Mullins beat Ezaka in the first set 4-6, but Ezaka battled back, winning 6-0 and 10-4.
Later on in the bracket, freshman Austin Yannone (Severna Park, Maryland) fell in the first round to Derek Austin of Boston College, 6-2 in straight sets. Freshman Axel Stern (Tustin, California) was overmatched as well in the first round, falling to Yale's Nathan Brown, 6-2 and 7-6 in straight sets.
Sophomore Julian Rozenstein (Marlboro, New Jersey) picked up the first round slack with a win over Marist's Justin Chanthalangsy. Rozenstein dropped the first set 3-6, but came back to win the match 6-0 and 11-9. However, Rozenstein couldn't keep it up, as he lost in the next round to Yale's Ryan Cheng. Rozenstein lost the first set 6-0 but battled and won the second 6-1. However, he was unable to complete the comeback, losing the final set 10-4.
In the Flight "B" singles bracket, freshman Jackson Koke (Calgary, Alberta) was able to win his first round matchup over Omar Abdo of Sacred Heart, 6-1 and 6-0 in straight sets. Koke fell in the second round though, to UConn's Justin Warren, despite winning the first set 6-4. Koke faltered in the following sets 6-2 and 10-3.
Senior Ryoma Haraguchi (New York, New York) won his first match of the day by coasting past James Ratchford of Yale, 6-0 and 6-2. However, Haraguchi lost in the following round to Hank Hill of UConn. Hill was able to down Haraguchi 6-3 in straight sets.
In the consolation "A" bracket, almost all of the Bobcats who lost in the first round were able to collect victories. Zaretsky got it started by defeating Sacred Heart's Senji Hosokawa, 6-1 and 6-3 in straight sets. It continued with Yannone beating Chris Sause of Sacred Heart, 6-4 and 6-3 in straight sets. Singles play concluded for the Bobcats after Stern fell to Charles Tan from Brown, 6-4 and 6-2 in straight sets.
Zaretsky and Haraguchi teamed up for doubles competition and were able to pick up the Bobcats first doubles win of the day with a 6-0 match victory over Franciso Del Valle and Bryan Einston of Sacred Heart. Cachapero and Koke were unable to match their teammates win after falling to Brown's Walker and Tan, 7-6 in tiebreakers. Ezaka and Rozenstein got the Bobcats back on track with a 6-2 win over Nicolas deQuesada and Will Conigliaro of Boston College. Competition concluded for the Bobcats with a win from Stern and Yannone, over Kent Mukai and Alexander Chieffalo of Boston College, 6-2.
The Quinnipiac men's tennis team returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 10 A.M. with singles competition, followed by doubles matches later in the day.
Flight "A" Singles:
Heller (Yale) def. Zaretsky (QU): 6-1, 6-0
Cachapero (QU) def. Wang (Yale): 6-2, 6-4
Walker (Brown) def. Cachapero (QU): 6-2, 6-3
Ezaka (QU) def. Mitak (Brown): 6-0, 7-6 (2)
Ezaka (QU) def. Mullins (Boston College): 4-6, 6-0, 10-4
Austin (Boston College) def. Yannone (QU): 6-2, 6-2
Brown (Yale) def. Stern (QU): 6-2, 7-6 (4)
Rozenstein (QU) def. Chanthalangsy (Marist): 3-6, 6-0, 11-9
Cheng (Yale) def. Rozenstein (QU): 6-0, 1-6, 10-4
Flight "B" Singles:
Koke (QU) def. Abdo (Sacred Heart): 6-1, 6-0
Warren (UConn) def. Koke (QU): 4-6, 6-2, 10-3
Haraguchi (QU) def. Ratchford (Yale): 6-0, 6-2
Hill (UConn) def. Haraguchi (QU): 6-3, 6-3
Consolation "A" Singles:
Zaretsky (QU) def. Hosokawa (Sacred Heart): 6-1, 6-3
Yannone (QU) def. Sause (Sacred Heart): 6-4, 6-3
Tan (Brown) def. Stern (QU): 6-4, 6-2
Doubles:
Zaretsky/Haraguchi (QU) def. Del Valle/Einstoss (Sacred Heart): 6-0
Walker/Tan (Brown) def. Cachapero/Koke (QU): 7-6 (1)
Ezaka/Rozenstein (QU) def. deQuesada/ Conigliaro (Boston College): 6-2
Stern/Yanome (QU) def. Mukai/ Chieffalo (Boston College): 6-2
Players Mentioned
