LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - The Belmont Bruins men's tennis team competed in the Louisville Invitational this past weekend, with David Faulkner, Vincent Sterkens, Grant Kelly, and Jake Briggs participating in the event.
After a very successful ITA Ohio Valley Regional, Mauricio gave Hendrik Inno and Marko Ilic the weekend off to let some of the other key guys compete in Louisville against schools such as Tennessee Tech, Lipscomb, and Louisville.
The highlight of the event was the play of sophomore David Faulkner in the singles draw, as he was able to make it to the semifinals of his draw before losing to Conner Andersen of Ball State. He was the only one to advance past the first round out of all the matches that the Bruins participated in.
Faulkner's first opponent was against Louisville's Juan Paredes, a freshman who was ranked as high as No. 2 in his age group in his home country of Colombia. Though Paredes played well and stayed competitive throughout the match, Faulkner was able to defeat him in two sets (6-4, 6-4).
Then it was on to the quarterfinals in the C Singles draw, and this time, he faced Oliver Andersson of Austin Peay. Faulkner was in a groove early and didn't let up, as he won both sets in commanding fashion (6-1, 6-1).
From there, he faced senior Conner Andersen of Ball State. Faulkner lost in two sets, though both sets were extremely well fought out as he lost 7-5, 7-5.
The next event for the Bruins will be the ITF Futures Event, which will take place in Birmingham, Ala. from Friday October 26 to Sunday October 28.
