LOS ANGELES – The Lions will be competing in their final fall competition this weekend as LMU hosts the LMU Invite from Friday to Sunday.
Each day, there will be a pair of singles matches on either end of a doubles match that is slated for 12:00 p.m. (PT).
Utah, UC Irvine, Denver and LMU wil all play each other in a modified round robin format.
LMU will play Friday at 12:00 p.m. in a doubles match against Utah. Immediately following the conclusion of doubles, LMU will face Denver in singles play. LMU and the Utes will square off again on Saturday morning, followed by a doubles match against UC Irvine. The tournament will conclude on Sunday when the Lions face Denver in Doubles followed immediately by singles against the Anteaters.
ITA ALL-AMERICAN
Arthur Pantino and
Yassine Smiej both showcased their skills while competing in the ITA All-American Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. from Saturday, September 30 to Sunday, October 1.
Smiej was defeated in his opening match, but soundly defeated his opponent in the consolation match on Sunday.
"Yassine had a very physical battle against one of the most solid players in the country, then came back the next day and took care of business in the consolation draw. He showed great resiliency, and we are very excited to see what he can do in the upcoming tournaments," said associate head coach
Alex Moreno.
Pantino showcased his ability with three victories over tough competition. He started off with a 7-6, 6-2 victory in his opening match with LSU's Chen Dong.
He came back later that day with a second straight sets victory, this time over Ethan Muza of Baylor.
Pantino continued to impress with another straight sets victory, this time over Michael Ross of Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Pantino did fall in the last round of qualifying to Tomas Pinho of UT San Antonio.
UCSB INVITE
The Lions continued their fall singles season with their next stop at the UCSB Invite.
All three athletes were drawn into "Flight B" with Tamaddon being drawn into "Flight C".
Nothdurft and Diaz fell in tightly contested first-round matches. Nothdurft went three sets with Aaron Eliscu of Cal Poly and forced a pair of tiebreakers around his second set victory.
Diaz dropped a tiebreaker in the first set to Bastian Weststrate of Cal Poly before dropping the second set.
Wuelfing showed some success on the courts in the tournament, reaching the semifinals. In the first round, he used a pair of tiebreakers to defeat Andre Saleh of San Diego State in straight sets. He went straight through to the semifinals after his second-round opponent withdrew. In the semifinals, he fell to Alfred Almasi of Grand Canyon in straight sets.
Tamaddon fell in straight sets of his opening round match with Vasyl Yazadzhiev. He came back in a consolation match on Sunday and defeated Owen Vander Ark of Westmont College in straight sets to finish his weekend.
Wuelfing and Diaz teamed up on the doubles side and went 1-1 on the weekend. They fell in their first round matchup with Tyler Davis and Photos Photiades of Pepperdine 8-6 before winning a consolation match against Ethan Ha and Logan Thompson of Westmont College in a breathtaking tiebreaker.
ITA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL
The Lions sent nine athletes to the ITA Southwest Regionals hosted by Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif.
Arthur Pantino received a first-round bye, but eight other competitors were in action to open the competition.
Wuelfing fell to Daniel Phillips of Arizona State in the opening round. He won the first set 6-3, but fell 2-6, 0-6 in the final two sets.
Diaz lost his opener in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.
Nothdurft put up quite the fight against Aarav Sane of UC Riverside in his opening match. The Munich, Germany native lost in straight sets, with both going to a tiebreaker. Nothdurft won an impressive consolation match against Sanjith Devineni of UCSD. After winning a first set tiebreaker, Nothdurft dropped the second set before winning the super tiebreaker 10-8.
Tamaddon fell in straight sets in the first round to Andy Nguyen of UC Irvine, 6-0, 6-2. He did win his first victory in the Lions uniform in the consolation match. Playing against Cole Kurata of Hawaii, Tamaddon took straight sets win 6-2, 6-0.
Nicolas Pesoli made his Lions debut in the tournament. He matched up with Matthew Sah of UC Irvine and fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Toky Ranaivo made his fall debut with a straights sets victory over Brandon Park of UC Irvine. Ranaivo advanced to the second round after a 6-4, 6-4 win. Ranaivo fell in the second round to the 13-seeded Max McKennon out of Arizona State. Ranaivo also competed against Weststrate and dropped a tiebreaker after winning the first set.
Alex Padro Parra also made his fall debut in Malibu. Padro Parra also had some opening-round success against William Alsterback of Grand Canyon, winning in straight sets with a second-set tiebreaker. Padro Parra advanced to the second round but fell to the 8-seeded Jay Friend of Arizona.
Pantino earned a first-round bye into the second-round where he faced off with Lucca Liu of UC Santa Barbara. He dropped straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Pantino got his revenge in a consolation match. After dropping the first set, he came back with an intense tiebreaker win in the second set before winning in a super tiebreaker 10-7.
Yassine Smiej faced off against WCC-foe Neo Niedner of San Diego and dropped a well-fought three-set match. After dropping a tiebreaker in the first set, Smiej came back and won a 6-3 decision in the second, setting up a decisive third set. Unfortunately, he dropped the third set 6-1.
JACK KRAMER INVITE
The Lions competed in their third competition of the fall in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. As a part of the Jack Kramer Invite.
Nothdurft was the sole entrant from LMU and battled despite a tough draw in the second round. In the first round, the German faced Lachlan Robertson of Oregon in a three-set match. Nothdurft took the first set in a tiebreaker before dropping the second to set up a decisive third set. Nothdurft took care of business to win 6-4 and claim the match.
Nothdurft was then paired with the 1-seed in the whole tournament, Carl Emil Overbeck of Cal. Nothdurft stood in tough but fell in straight sets.
