Tribe Opens Competition at Virginia State Open

Junior Dominic Pagon and freshmen Sebastien Vidal and Ben Wirth earned spots in the semifinals of their respective singles draws.

09/28/07 11:00PM

Charlottesville, Va. - The William and Mary men’s tennis team had three players advance to the semifinals of their respective singles brackets on the opening day of the Virginia State Open on Friday. Junior Dominic Pagon along with freshmen Sebastien Vidal and Ben Wirth all earned semifinal berths in singles with a pair of wins. Rookie Ben Gullickson also tallied the first two wins of his W&M career to earn a spot in the quarterfinals of the B Singles bracket.

Pagon won his fourth and fifth straight matches of the season to garner a spot in semifinals of the top singles draw. In the opening round, the Kingston, Jamaica native upset the tournament’s No. 4 seed from Richmond, Michael Sommer, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Pagon continued his winning ways with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Leif Sunderland of Virginia. He will meet the tournament’s top-seed Ivan Salec of Radford in the semifinals on Saturday.

Vidal moved into the semifinals of the A-2 Singles draw with a pair of victories on Friday. He disposed of Paul Boslet of Radford, 6-4, 7-5, before downing the No. 3 seed Andrew Downing of Virginia, 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals. The wins pushed Vidal’s rookie record to 4-1. He will meet Georges-Alexandre Israel of VCU in the semifinals.

Junior Marwan Ramadan fell to Israel in the quarterfinals of the A-2 Singles flight. Ramadan, who was seeded No. 2 in the bracket, opened with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Sebastian Pena of Liberty, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the bracket. Ramadan is 4-2 on the year following the split at the Virginia State Open.

Junior Alex Zuck earned a spot in the consolation semifinals. After dropping his opening round match, Zuck rebounded with his second victory of the season, downing David Cardoso of Longwood, 7-5, 6-0. He will meet Chad Simpson of Liberty in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.

Gullickson notched a pair of victories in his first collegiate competition in the B-1 Singles Flight. He defeated Hoskins of George Mason in the opening round, before dispatching Mani Barajas-Alexander of Longwood, 6-4, 6-4. He will meet another George Mason opponent in Matt Schneider in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Also in the B-1 Singles bracket, Wirth continued his early season success for the Tribe. The Virginia Beach, Va., native defeated the No. 4 seed Carlin Campbell of James Madison, 6-1, 6-2, in the first round, before beating Juan Reyes of Liberty, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. With the victories, Wirth moved to 5-1 on the young season. Wirth will meet the winner of Gullickson and Schneider in the semifinals.

In doubles action, Zuck and Vidal defeated Lipstock and Hoskins of George Mason, 8-0, in the first round of the A Doubles bracket. The pair will meet the No. 3 seeds of Steyn and Simpson from Liberty in the quarterfinals.

In the B Doubles draw, the Tribe team of Wardell and Pagon along with the duo of Pandit and Ramadan garnered byes in the opening round. Wardell and Pagon are seeded No. 2 in the bracket and will meet Campell and Rubenstein of James Madison in the quarterfinals. Pandit and Ramadan are the No. 4 seeds in the draw and are slated to battle Dietz and Levy of Binghamton in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Competition on the second day of the Virginia State Open will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday with doubles. The competition will be held at the Snyder Tennis Center and admission to the public is free.

W&M Results from the Virginia State Open
A-1 Singles First Round
Dominic Pagon (W&M) def. #4 Michael Sommer (Richmond) – 6-1, 6-2
#2 Brandon Lindsley (Longwood) def. Varun Pandit (W&M) – 6-3, 6-3
Jesse Tarr (JMU) def. Richard Wardell (W&M) – 6-4, 6-3

A-1 Singles Quarterfinals
Dominic Pagon (W&M) def. Leif Sunderland (UVa) – 6-2, 6-1

A-1 Singles Consolation Quarterfinals
Louis Steyn (Liberty) def. Varun Pandit (W&M) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Moshe Levy (Binghamton) def. Richard Wardell (W&M) – 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

A-2 Singles First Round
Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Paul Boslet (Radford) – 6-4, 7-5
#2 Marwan Ramadan (W&M) def. Sebastian Pena (Liberty) – 6-4, 6-3
Mehdi Benhammou (Radford) def. Alex Zuck (W&M) – 6-4, 6-3

A-2 Singles Quarterfinals
Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. #3 Andrew Downing (UVa) – 6-2, 6-3
Georges-Alexandre Israel (VCU) def. #2 Marwan Ramadan (W&M) – 6-2, 6-0

A-2 Singles Consolation Quarterfinals
Alex Zuck (W&M) def. David Cardoso (Longwood) – 7-5, 6-0

B-1 Singles First Round
#1 Ben Gullickson (W&M) def. Hoskins (GMU)
#1 Ben Gullickson (W&M) def. Mani Barajas-Alexander (Longwood) – 6-4, 6-4
Ben Wirth (W&M) def. #4 Carlin Campbell (JMU) – 6-1, 6-2

B-1 Singles Quarterfinals
Ben Wirth (W&M) def. Juan Reyes (Liberty) – 6-1, 4-6, 6-2

A Doubles First Round
Zuck/Vidal (W&M) def. Lipstock/Hoskins (GMU) – 8-0
Cardoso/Heird (Longwood) def. Gullickson/Wirth (W&M) – 9-7