PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania men’s tennis team competed at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships from Oct. 16-20, with Nischal Spurling advancing to the singles final and qualifying for the NCAA Singles Championships. Aaron Sandler and Justin Chung also reached the doubles championship match.
Spurling put together an impressive run in the main draw, opening with a straight-set victory over Charlie Valentine of Columbia, 6-2, 6-3. He followed with a three-set comeback against Aleksandar Mitric of Princeton, recovering from a first-set loss to win 0-6, 6-3, 7-5. Spurling continued his run with straight-set victories over Abhishek Thorat of Columbia, 6-3, 6-2, and Yerassyl Bakhtiyar of NJIT, 7-6, 6-0, to reach the semifinals.
In the semifinals, Spurling defeated Andrew Ena of Columbia, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the championship match and earn his place in the NCAA Singles Championships. His run highlighted a strong showing for the Quakers in singles, with Adam Bain and Justin Chung also reaching the quarterfinals.
Bain opened with a straight-set win over Christos Glavas of Penn State, 6-3, 6-3, before defeating Thanaphat Boosarawongse of Columbia, 6-2, 7-5, and Arijan Kaliterna of NJIT, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5. His run ended in a three-set quarterfinal against Ena, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. Chung also advanced through three rounds, defeating Gray Kelley of Columbia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, Eyal Shyovitz of Penn State, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, and Semen Agynskyy of St. John’s, 6-0, 7-6, before falling to Landon Ardila of Princeton in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 7-6.
In doubles, Sandler and Chung made a deep run to the championship match. The duo opened with an 8-6 victory over Fordham’s Mateusz Gradzki and Victor Kimpel, then earned wins over Penn State’s Marcus Schoeman and Emil Matikainen, 8-6, and Princeton’s Meecah Bigun and JunHao Luo, 8-4. They followed with an 8-2 quarterfinal win over Saint Joseph’s Santiago Valle-Saenz and Sehaj Singh Pawar before defeating Columbia’s Andrew Kotzen and Jordan Chang, 7-6, 6-3, in the semifinals.
The Quakers faced Columbia’s Andrew Ena and Damir Zhalgasbay in the final. After dropping the opening set, 6-4, Sandler and Chung battled through a closely contested second set, holding serve to force a tiebreak. Columbia ultimately claimed the tiebreak to take the match, 6-4, 7-6.
Penn also earned several other wins throughout the tournament. Shaurya Bharadwaj defeated Ford McCollum of Princeton, 7-6, 6-4, in singles and teamed with Vojtech Vales for an 8-1 doubles victory over Mercyhurst’s Nathan Paszylk and Mykhailo Polishchuck. Parashar Bharadwaj recorded a 6-2, 6-0 singles win over Nate Roberman of FDU and teamed with Sebastian Chodura for an 8-4 doubles victory over Villanova’s Jack Sherner and James Quincy Jones. Adam Bain also opened the tournament with a three-set singles win over Saint Joseph’s Santiago Valle, 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-1.
Quaker Notemeal
*Nischal Spurling advanced to the ITA Northeast Regional singles final and qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships.
*Spurling defeated Andrew Ena of Columbia in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-1, to secure his NCAA berth.
*Adam Bain and Justin Chung each advanced to the singles quarterfinals.
*Aaron Sandler and Justin Chung reached the ITA Northeast Regional doubles final.
*Sandler/Chung recorded four doubles victories before falling to Columbia in the championship match.
*Shaurya Bharadwaj and Parashar Bharadwaj each earned singles victories and recorded doubles wins with their respective partners.
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