Noroozian, Samaha Shine at ITAs
Tulsa, Okla. & Sherwood, Calif. — Georgio Samaha and Aram Noroozian just missed qualifying for ITA All-America Nationals, falling just short in doubles, and Samaha just short in singles to highlight a big weekend of tennis for the Lobo men’s tennis team. The squad is now off until Mountain West Qualifiers, which is the league’s entry portal into the new Fall NCAA Championships.
Samaha missed qualifying for the tournament by one win, falling in his Round of 32 match. He opened with a stunning 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win over No. 1 seed Cesar Bouchelaghem of Washington). He advanced into the Round of 64, winning again with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Mississippi State’s Radomir Tomic. That put Samaha a win away from entry into the main draw, but he lost a wild match to Nicholas Heng of Auburn 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, missing out on a set point in the first set after battling back from down 5-2 in both the first and second sets.
Noroozian, who lost his opening match to Oscar Brown of Duke 6-4, 6-2, and Samaha paired up for a Round of 32 doubles win over Arkansas 6-2, 6-1, putting them one win away from the main draw. Again in a long match, they lost to South Carolina 7-6 (12-10), 6-4. Noroozian did snag a win in his consolation singles match by a 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-1 score of Mississippi State’s Michal Novansky.
At the Sherwood Classic, Dario Ciobotaru, Avery Tallakson, Daniil Kakhniuk and Noclas Recoura played, with the group going 7-7 in singles and 3-4 in doubles against stiff competition, mostly from the Power 4 ranks. Kakhniuk went 2-1, Ciobotaru and Recoura went 2-2 and Tallakson 1-2.
ITA All-Americans:
Pre-Qualifying Day 1
Samaha def #1 Seed Cesar Bouchelaghem (University of Washington)
Brown (Duke) def Noroozian 6-4, 6-2
Samaha/Noroozian def Barun/Smillie (Arkansas) 6-2, 6-1
Day 2
Samaha def Tomic (Mississippi State) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Heng (Auburn) def Samaha 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 6-3
Noroozian def Novansky (Mississippi State) 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-1
Andrade da Silva/Sarr (South Carolina) def Samaha/Noroozian 7-6(10), 6-4
Sherwood Classic Results:
Ciobotaru/Recoura def Denitto/Nothhaft LMU 6-3
Sadek/Nothdurft LMU def Tallakson/Kakhniuk 6-4
Bradley/Hoffman USC def Ciobotaru/Recoura 6-4
Church USC/Von Bismarck UCLA def Tallakson/Kakhniuk 7-6 (0)
Ciobotaru def Bradley USC 6-3, 6-1
Hoffman USC def Recoura 6-2, 6-1
Church def Tallakson 6-0, 6-1
Kakhniuk def Von Bismarck UCLA 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Halldin/Stephens (Pepperdine) def Tallakson/Kakhniuk (New Mexico) 6-1
Ciobotaru/Recoura def Peus/Deo SMU 6-3
Halldin (Pepperdine) def Ciobotaru 6-3, 6-3
Stephens (Pepperdine) def Recoura 6-2, 7-5
Tallakson def Coffey (Pacific) 6-4, 6-4
Schiffman (Cal) def Kakhniuk 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Chang (Cal) def Ciobotaru 6-4, 7-5
Recoura def Irwanto (Cal) 6-2, 6-2
Ciobotaru def Silagy (SMU) 6-3, 7-6(5)
Recoura def Deo (SMU) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
Calvelo (SMU) def Tallakson 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-3
Kakhniuk def Peus (SMU) 6-0, 6-0
Recoura/Kakhniuk (New pairing) def Anney/Schiffman (Cal) 7-5
Calvelo/Silagy (SMU) def Ciobotaru/Tallakson (new pairing) 7-6(4)