Ball State Invite Day Three Results

Junior Pjotrs Necajevs (Riga, Latvia/Herdera Vidusskola) won his third straight singles title as the UDM men's tennis team wrapped up play at the 30th Annual Ball State Invitational. The 17-team field featured over 120 players, including some of the top netters in the midwest.

"These kids gave it their all out there and competed for every point," said head coach Grant Asher. "The thing I take most out of this weekend is that our guys played hard and gave everyone a challenge and now they know that they can not only compete, but they are better then a lot of teams here."

Necajevs, now a perfect 13-0 on the year, claimed the Flight A championship by defeating Filip Miljevic of Illinois State, 6-2, 6-1.

"We were hoping that Pjotrs would come in and make an immediate impact and be very successful for us," said Asher said. "He played the last two years in the SEC, one of the strongest conferences in the country, and he has really taken the challenge of being the No. 1 player for this team."

Detroit also had two doubles teams competing for a championship, but both came up short in the end. In Flight A doubles, Necajevs and freshman Dustin Goldenberg (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) battled throughout the match, but eventually fell 8-4 in the finals. The team had won three-straight to get to the title contest upsetting Purdue's No. 1 doubles team, the top seeded team in the tournament, 9-8 (3) in the first round.

"They have come a long way since the start of the year," said Asher. "Dustin continues to improve every week, with a lot of help from Pjotrs. I believe he will be an exceptional doubles player in the future."

In the finals of the Flight D doubles bracket, junior Patrick Troy (Beverly Hills, MI/Brother Rice) and freshman Nick Tolomei (Rochester Hills, MI/Adams) nearly came away with the victory, but the pair could not overcome some early mistakes and suffered an 8-5 defeat.

"Patrick and Nick have really played well together as a team," said Asher. "They cover each other great on the court and I think they should have won the match, but they just could not execute at times."

The Titans will take a few weeks off before they compete in the ITA Midwest Regionals, their last competition of the fall season. The event will take place from Oct. 16-20 in Columbus, Ohio.