Sept. 26, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Junior Filip Koziell and freshman Jarred Leibner of the Purdue men's tennis team both won two matches on Friday to advance to the Flight B quarterfinals of the Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville.
Koziell, a transfer from Texas-Pan American, won his first-round match by a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 score over Alabama's Mike Green. In the second round, Koziell upended N.C. State's Dennis Myers 6-4, 6-2.
Leibner, in his collegiate tennis debut, beat Virginia's Burak Ahmed 6-4, 6-2 in round one, then defeated Wake Forest's Liron Strauss 6-2, 7-5 in the second round.
Another double-winner was sophomore Colin Foster, who beat N.C. State's Drew Befus 6-1, 6-4 in a play-in match, then defeated Harvard's Gideon Valkin 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 in Flight B. Foster can advance to the quarterfinals with a Saturday win against William & Mary's Colin O'Brien.
Koziell will face Harvard's Jason Beren, while Leibner will take on the Crimson's Jack Li in the quarters.
Senior Troy Havens, junior Seth McKinley and sophomore Paul Rose all lost their Flight A first-round matches, with Havens and Rose succumbing in three sets. Sophomore David Robinson and freshman Eric Hodgman met similar fates in the first round of Flight B. Rose, Robinson and Hodgman all rebounded two win matches in consolation, however. Rose beat Nick Meythaler 6-4, 3-6, 10-7; Robinson beat the Wolfpack's William Noblitt 6-3, 6-4; and Hodgman defeated Old Dominion's Dom Manilla 6-0, 6-2.
Both Havens and McKinley dropped their consolation matches in straight sets.
Four Purdue doubles teams also competed on Friday. Foster and Hodgman advanced to the Flight B quarterfinals with an 8-3 win over the Monarchs' Jon Antle and Manilla. Havens and Rose won by an injury default in Flight A. Koziell and McKinley lost in Flight A, as did Leibner and Robinson in Flight B.
Despite the ups and downs, 10th-year Purdue head coach Tim Madden found positives in his team's first day of fall competition.
"We got off to a slow start, but I am pleased with how well we competed, especially the young guys," Madden said. "We are a very young team and we need a lot of match play, and we definitely are getting that this weekend."
Play at the Virginia Invitational will resume Saturday, and will conclude Sunday. Complete results can be found at www.virginiasports.com.
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