Sept. 18, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Villanova men's tennis team competed in the Northeast Collegiate Invitational this past weekend at Brown University in Providence, R.I. Pacing the Wildcats was sophomore Brett Tobin, who sealed a first place finish in flight No. 5 of singles play. Classmate Alex Leeser also displayed a solid showing as he advanced to the semifinals in the seventh flight before bowing out to Michael Vann of Boston College.

Tobin, who compiled a 4-8 record last spring, knocked off various opponents on his road to victory. He first defeated Lafayette's Kyle MacLelland before battling Connecticut's Christian Malerba for the three-set victory to advance to the quarterfinals. It was here that Tobin posted a convincing win over Hofstra's Andy Cha by scores of 6-4, 6-2 right before securing the first place finish against Connecticut's Andrew Marcus in the finals 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.

Fellow Wildcat Leeser, who saw limited action in singles play last year, battled his way into the final round of flight No. 7 before faltering to Michael Vann of Boston College. Despite just missing the first place finish, Leeser managed to defeat some competitive schools along the way. He first knocked off Niagara's Steve Kopf in the opening round followed by a three-set victory over Geoff Mueller of Boston College. Leeser then easily defeated Bucknell's Ben Young 6-3, 6-3 before being handed a loss by Vann.

Villanova also reaped other successes throughout the weekend. Freshmen Trenton Alenik and John Drosick both won their first ever collegiate matches, with Alenik defeating Steven Nieman of Brandeis in flight No. 3 and Drosick prevailing in flight No. 6 over Marist's James Famiglio. Sophomore John Magliano also advanced to the semifinals in the sixth flight before dropping a close match to Bucknell's Mark Malloy by scores of 7-6, 6-3.

For complete results from Northeast Collegiate Invitational, click here