Tribe Opens Competition at the South Florida Invitational

W&M claimed a trio of singles wins and a doubles victory on the opening day of competition.

01/11/08 4:00PM

Tampa, Fla. - The William and Mary men’s tennis team claimed a trio of singles matches and a doubles match on the opening day of the South Florida Spring Invitational. W&M is taking part in the three-day event which features a trio of flights in both singles and doubles.

Juniors Dominic Pagon and Alex Zuck tallied wins in Flight A and B of the singles draw, respectively. Pagon improved to 10-5 on the season with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Artiom Podgainni of Florida A&M in the top singles flight. Zuck downed Maurice Wamukowa of Florida A&M in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1. He bumped his season mark to 5-3.

In singles Flight C, freshman Ben Gullickson upended Florida A&M’s Marc Atkinson in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The victory pushed his season ledger over the .500 mark at 4-3.

The freshman tandem of Varun Pandit and Sebastien Vidal claimed the Tribe’s only doubles victory on the opening day of competition. The W&M duo downed Michael Moore and Marc Atkinson of Florida A&M, 8-3. It marked the first time the Tribe rookie paired together for the College.

W&M will return to action at the South Florida Spring Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 12. The event will conclude on Sunday, Jan. 13. The Tribe will open the home portion of it schedule with a doubleheader on Friday, Jan. 18, at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. W&M will face Temple at 3 p.m., before hosting Richmond at 7:30 p.m.

USF Spring Invitational Day 1 Results
Flight A Doubles
Podgainii/Malivert (FAMU) def. Zuck/Wardell (W&M), 8-6

Flight B Doubles
Paige/Wamukowa (FAMU) def. Pagon/Sud (W&M), 9-8 (4)

Flight C Doubles
Pandit/Vidal (W&M) def. Moore/Atkinson (FAMU) 8-3

Flight A Singles
Dominic Pagon (W&M) def. Artiom Podgainii (FAMU), 6-3, 6-2
Clifford Malivert (FAMU) def. Richard Wardell (W&M) 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-0

Flight B Singles
Alex Zuck (W&M) def. Maurice Wamukowa (FAMU), 7-5, 6-1
Michael Moore (FAMU) def. Kavi Sud (W&M), 7-6 (3), 6-2

Flight C Singles
Paul Page (FAMU) def. Varun Pandit (W&M), 6-3, 6-3
Ben Gullickson (W&M) def. Marc Atkinson (FAMU), 6-3, 6-4