By Josie Emanuelli
The Ranger Invitational hosted by the men’s tennis team marked the opening of their Spring 2017 season. The invitational featured Wilkes University, Roger Williams University and Dickinson College. The event was a successful one, as the Rangers were able to gather six doubles wins and 14 singles wins over the course of two days.
Salikh Gilmutdinov (’18) began by making a quick impact for the Rangers, winning his first two matches before dropping a set to Courtney Murphy from Wilkes, who is currently ranked No. 14 in Division III nationally, fourth for the region. Gilmutdinov won the first set 6-1, but eventually succumbed to Murphy’s prowess, dropping the next set as well as the tie breaker. Vineet Vemulapally (’19) also began the tournament 2-0 before dropping his first match to the No. 2 at Wilkes. This match was one of the closest in the tournament.
Lloyd Goldstein (’20) began his singles career 2-0, beating both Roger Williams and Wilkes. He, along with Chris Morville (’19) and Geoffrey Diehl (’20), were the only players to beat Wilkes in their singles matches. Goldstein partnered with Bryce Weizer (’20) to capture his first doubles win of his collegiate career. In addition, Will Morrison (’19), Morville and Diehl also notched two wins each at the invitational. Morville and Parker Diamond (’20) also had an eventful doubles match to start off the match, having been down 0-4 but eventually pulling ahead to win 8-5. Each of them managed a singles victory over Wilkes, who is currently ranked No. 17 in the Atlantic South Region by the ITA.
The Rangers are back in action tomorrow as they host cross-town rival FDU-Florham. The women will play first at 10 a.m. followed by the men in the afternoon.
