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                         Sept. 27, 2002

Albornoz brothers win "A" flight doubles at Cornell Invite

By Jen Battagliotti
Asst. Director, Athletic Media Relations

Brothers Arnie, a senior and junior Rafael Albornoz won the Flight A doubles title as the men’s tennis team concluded its opening weekend at the Cornell Invitational at the Reis Tennis Center in Ithaca, N.Y., Sunday afternoon.

The Albornoz brothers advanced to the Flight A doubles finals defeating Cornell’s Mike Furman and Joe Lang, 8-6, in their semifinal match. In the finals, they beat Cornell’s Scott Spencer and Brett McKeon, 9-7. The duo received a bye in the first round and beat Michael Schlappig and Aravinda Neuman also from Cornell, 8-1.

Sophomore John Sabia advanced to the finals of the Flight A singles bracket but withdrew from the match because of injury. Akshay Rao from Binghamton, who defeated Arnie Albornoz in the opening round (6-4, 6-3) Saturday, won the title. Earlier Sunday, Sabia defeated McKeon, 6-1, 6-2. Sabia beat Colgate’s Reed Hagman (6-3, 6-4) and Yale’s Mikosz Gudzowki (6-3, 6-4) to advance to Sunday’s play.

Freshman Carl Fisher, in his collegiate debut, advanced to the finals of the Flight C singles but fell to Blake Willmarth of Colgate, 6-3, 6-0. Fisher came from behind to beat UConn’s Andy Sweatt in the semifinals, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. On Saturday, Fisher upended Abedin Sham (6-2, 6-3) of Cornell and Tommy Joyce (6-2, 6-2) from Maryland-Baltimore County.

In the Flight B semifinals, both Army teams were stopped. Sophomore Wesley Graham and Fisher fell to Colgate’s tandem of Willmarth and Ray Wu, 8-4. Sophomore Steven Srivastava and junior Jarrett Skrobarcek were edged out by Yale’s Neil Tolaney and Benjamin Woodhouse, 8-4.